Thomas R. Carter, President
Tom Carter co-founded the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in 1986 and one year later he co-founded the Institute's International Jazz Competition. Carter has organized jazz education programs in public schools throughout the United States and around the world, produced jazz events during the 1993 and 1997 Inaugural celebrations, and served as producer of the Jazz at The White House gala concert which was taped for a PBS television special. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, a college level program that opened in September 1995 and is now located at Loyola University New Orleans. He also initiated and served as executive producer of "A Celebration of America's Music," a one-hour ABC television special that was broadcast in 1996 and became the first jazz television special to air on network television in more than 25 years. In 1997, Carter served as executive producer for the 2nd annual television special, also broadcast on ABC. A native of Fairburn, Georgia, Carter received his undergraduate and master's degrees from Georgetown University. He worked on Capitol Hill on the staffs of United States Senators Herman Talmadge and Lloyd Bentsen and Congressman John J. Flynt, Jr. and was a government affairs specialist with Fairchild Industries.
Washington, DC Office:
Leonard E. Brown, Director of Special Projects
Leonard Brown serves as Project Director of the Washington, DC Jazz in the Classroom series. He also serves as Producer of the Institute's annual international jazz competition. A graduate of Howard University, Brown majored in music administration and minored in violin performance and business administration. In addition to playing classical violin, he plays jazz saxophone and jazz guitar. Brown has performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the U.S. Department of State, and in the orchestra of Broadway productions. He has provided strings for renowned artists including Denyce Graves, Isaac Hayes, Patti LaBelle, and Wynton Marsalis.
Michelle M. Day, Vice President, Operations
Michelle Day has provided production and logistical services for leading political figures, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and the entertainment industry for more than a decade. Since 1997, she has directed a variety of events for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, including international jazz education tours sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, as well as the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. From 1993 to 1995, Day served as Director of Advance for former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown, managing the logistics for a number of international trade missions, including visits to Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Through this work, she became well versed in the composition of the Washington, DC embassy community, as well as the U.S. State Department desk and worldwide embassy system. Day has also been involved in producing high-profile events held on The National Mall, including The March to Conquer Cancer, Earth Day, the Million Mom March, and the March for Women's Lives. Through her work with Festival Productions and the Institute, Day has worked with celebrities including Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Prince, Barbra Streisand, and Stevie Wonder.
Sarah Andrew Wilson, National Director of Education Outreach
Sarah Andrew Wilson manages the Institute's many education programs in public schools across the country, including Jazz in the Classroom, Blues & Jazz - Two American Classics, and Jazz in America. She has also directed the Institute's national education tours, featuring artists such as Herbie Hancock, Antonio Hart, Lisa Henry, Chris Thomas King, and Bobby Watson, and overseen public relations for the annual Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Prior to joining the Institute, Wilson managed education outreach programs at the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, contract administration at the Washington National Opera, and was a performing member of the Mesa Symphony Orchestra. A flutist, Wilson has taught musicians of all ages and conducted numerous workshops and performances across the country. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas, a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from the Freeman Foundation's Nonprofit Leadership Institute.
Los Angeles Office:
Dr. JB Dyas, Vice President, Education and Curriculum Development
Bassist JB Dyas has been involved in jazz education for the past three decades. Formerly the Director of Jazz Studies at New World School of the Arts and Executive Director of the Brubeck Institute, Dyas currently oversees the Institute's education and outreach programs. He also serves as Project Director for the Institute's Jazz in America initiative (http://www.jazzinamerica.org), one of the most significant and wide-reaching jazz education programs in the world. Throughout his career, Dyas has performed across the country, taught students at every level, directed large and small ensembles, developed and implemented new jazz curricula, and written for national music publications. He has presented numerous jazz clinics, teacher training seminars, and other jazz education events nationwide with such artists as Dave Brubeck and Herbie Hancock, and is a recipient of the Down Beat Achievement Award for Jazz Education. Dyas received his master's degree in jazz pedagogy from the University of Miami and his PhD in music education from Indiana University.
Daniel Seeff, West Coast Director
Daniel Seeff directs the Institute's Los Angeles public school outreach programming, including Jazz in the Classroom and BeBop to Hip-Hop, and serves as an associate producer of the Institute's annual International Jazz Competition. He was the Administrative Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance from 2001 until 2007. He also coordinated the Institute's summer jazz colony for six years and has produced several Institute educational concerts in Los Angeles. Prior to transferring to the Los Angeles office, Seeff administered the Washington, DC Jazz in the Classroom series, produced the distance learning network master class hosted by guitarist Pat Metheny, and coordinated the "With Strings Attached" school assembly programs. Seeff is a bassist and guitarist who has toured nationally and performed on many major label albums with artists such as Jay-Z and Cypress Hill. He has also composed music for the Tyra Banks Show, Extra, and The Bachelor.
Paris Strother, Special Programs Coordinator
Paris Strother coordinates the Institute's education programs for public school students and teachers in Los Angeles. These programs include BeBop to Hip-Hop, Jazz in the Classroom, and Jazzing Up Jazz Band. Strother also teaches at several of the participating public schools. Prior to joining the Institute, Strother worked in production and development for the Monterey Jazz Festival. A pianist and composer, she has won an institutional endowment award from the Berklee College of Music, the Duke Ellington Foundation's Legacy Award, the Edward Bazinet Foundation Village Scholars Program Scholarship for the Arts, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Links Scholarship for Academic Achievement, and several other prestigious awards and scholarships. Strother has performed nationally with her own group and has been featured on international tours to Cuba, Greece, The Netherlands, and Russia. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in contemporary writing and production from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
New Orleans Office:
Terence Blanchard, Artistic Director, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at Loyola University New Orleans
Three-time GRAMMY Award-winning composer and world-renowned trumpet player Terence Blanchard has established himself as one of the most influential jazz musicians and film score masters of his generation. Currently signed to Blue Note Records, Terence belongs to a jazz legacy that has shaped the contours of modern jazz today, stretching back to 1939 and including formative albums by one of Blanchard's mentors, the legendary drummer and bandleader Art Blakey. As a jazz musician, Blanchard is a multi-GRAMMY Award nominee, winning most recently for his 2007 CD, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina), a beautifully haunting and impassioned song cycle about Hurricane Katrina and the ravages incurred by it upon the city of New Orleans and its residents. He is currently up for a 2009 GRAMMY Award for Best Instrumental Solo for "Be-Bop," a track from Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival. As a film composer, Blanchard has 43 scores to his credit and received a Golden Globe nomination for Spike Lee's 25th Hour. In 2008 he completed the scores for Lee's Miracle at St. Anna, his twelfth collaboration with Lee, as well as the soundtrack for Cadillac Records. Additional films that Blanchard has written the music for include the Kasi Lemmons' films Eve's Bayou and Talk to Me, Oprah Winfrey's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tim Story's Barbershop, and Ron Shelton's Dark Blue. As Artistic Director, Blanchard works with the Institute of Jazz Performance students in the areas of artistic development, arranging, composition, career counseling, and concert programming. He also participates in master classes and community outreach activities associated with the college program. For more information on Blanchard and his upcoming projects, please visit: http://www.terenceblanchard.com or http://www.burgessmgmt.com.
Jonathan Bloom, Education Coordinator
Jonathan Bloom is an artist and music educator with more than 27 years of exemplary instructional and performing experience. He has orchestrated and launched multifaceted recruitment programs bringing performing artists into
Holly Wallace, Administrative Director, Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at Loyola University New Orleans
Holly Wallace is a marketing and communications specialist with a considerable background in public relations and creative services for the entertainment industry, performing arts institutions, and nonprofit organizations. As senior publicist at UCLA Live and the Los Angeles Public Library, she worked with a diverse range of world-class troupes from Royal Shakespeare Company to Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal, musical icons from Yo-Yo Ma to Youssou N'Dour, and best-selling authors from Seymour Hersh to David Sedaris. Wallace has also crafted concert publicity campaigns for a who's who of jazz artists such as Kenny Burrell, Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, Dianne Reeves, John Scofield, and the Monterey Jazz Festival 50th Anniversary Tour. In her work at Universal Studios and Warner Bros., she directed creative advertising for the DVD releases of Academy Award-winning films including "Shrek," "Gladiator," "L.A. Confidential," and "Unforgiven." At Rhino Records, she oversaw marketing for the label's eclectic home video division. Wallace double majored in Information and Communication Studies and English at California State University, Chico.
