Photo of Kim  Addonizio

Kim  Addonizio

Faculty

Kim Addonizio is the author of seven poetry collections, two novels, two story collections, and two books on writing poetry: The Poet’s Companion (with Dorianne Laux) and Ordinary Genius.

Photo of George  Aschmann

George  Aschmann

Faculty

Among other musical endeavors, George plays violin and sings with the collective Frog and Henry, who’ve played the streets of New Orleans since 2013. They revive the music first made popular in the 1920’s and 1930’s in New Orleans, Chicago, and across the U.S., a mixture of jazz, jugband, stringband, blues, and popular songs. Most of the instruments are from the same time period.

Photo of Kalimah Abioto

Kalimah Abioto

Artist

Kalimah Abioto, aka Dr. Woodchopper is a filmmaker, writer, storyteller, performer and afro-ecologist. She hails from Memphis, TN and her work can be seen at kalimahabiotot.com

Roldy Ablao

Curatorial Resident

Photo of Brook Adams

Brook Adams

Faculty

Brook is an atavistic dinosaur of 20th century pop. His songs evoke a timeless blend of soul, surf & psychedelia. He is a skilled player on guitar and ukulele.

Claire Allen-Africa

Operations Associate

deposited by the Fates at a small vineyard in Port Townsend after many years of world travel by sea, elephant and bicycle, this sailor brings a multi-world view to her responsibilities at Centrum. A no-nonsense approach inherited from her British roots instills in Claire the ability to initiate eloquent solutions to her problem-solving and logistics. Claire enjoys jamming with friends when not tending to grapevines, making wine and savoring the results with her husband and collie dog.

Photo of Andrew Alli

Andrew Alli

Faculty

This Richmond, Virginia native was always passionate about music and stumbled upon the blues while taking up his first instrument, the harmonica. He instantly fell in love with the blues and the history that comes with the harp.

Roya Amirsoleymani

Curatorial Resident

Roya Amirsoleymani is Artistic Director & Curator of Public Engagement at Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) in Portland, Oregon, where she co-curates interdisciplinary performance, visual art exhibitions, public programs, and the Time-Based Art Festival of contemporary dance, experimental theatre, visual art, performance, sound, music, film/video, and community engagement. She co-directs PICA’s Creative Exchange Lab residency for international, national, and local artists, as well as Precipice Fund, part of the Warhol Foundation’s Regional Regranting Program.…

Photo of Big Jon Atkinson

Big Jon Atkinson

Faculty

Big Jon Atkinson speaks the language fluently and with such a well-articulated deep emotion that when you hear this young man play and sing the blues it is an experience you will never forget.

Photo of Quenton Baker

Quenton Baker

Faculty

Quenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. Their current focus is black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Their work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Vinyl, The Rumpus  and elsewhere.

Photo of Dan Balmer

Dan Balmer

Faculty

From coffee house gigs at fifteen to chart-topping success with the Tom Grant Band in the 90s, world tours with two-time Grammy Award winner Diane Schuur and contemporary jam-bands, Dan Balmer brings fire and heart every time he plays the guitar. His playing spans nearly one hundred CDs including twelve as a leader from which his original works have appeared internationally in television, film and radio.

Genevieve E Barlow

Alumni Network Coordinator

Genevieve E Barlow (Alumni Network Coordinator) graduated from the University of Montana in 2018 with a BFA in Acting and Directing. As the Food Security Coordinator for the YMCA, Genevieve led numerous hunger relief programs in Jefferson County focusing on transportation and expanding family nutrition. She has worked for several local theater companies and directed Men on Boats in 2019 and As You Like It in 2022.…

Holly Barousse

Registrar

Holly Barousse (Operations and Residency Assc.) Holly joined Centrum in 2020 after several years in other roles at Fort Worden. Her experience working at the Fort introduced her to Centrum’s staff and programs. She was thrilled to join the operations team, working with the Registrar, Residency Program Manager and the Operations Manager. Holly grew up in Michigan, spent time in Alaska and Oregon and fell in love with Port Townsend.…

Photo of Dave Biller

Dave Biller

Faculty

Dave Biller has toured and recorded with Wayne Hancock, Dale Watson, and Deke Dickerson and is mostly known as a professional pedal steel player, but his record, Hot Guitars of Biller & Wakefield, captured the ears of music lovers everywhere.

Photo of Robert Birman

Robert Birman

Executive Director

Robert Birman (Executive Director) Named 2022 Business Leader of the Year in Jefferson County, Rob joined Centrum in 2013, having served as a senior executive in the orchestra world for more than 20 years in San Francisco, Louisville, Santa Barbara, Boston and elsewhere. He is a former arts administration fellow with the National Endowment for the Arts; an ISPA fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami Beach; and worked two summers at the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder.…

Photo of Arna Bontemps Hemenway

Arna Bontemps Hemenway

Faculty

Arna Bontemps Hemenway is the author of Elegy on Kinderklavier (Sarabande Books), winner of the PEN/Hemingway Prize, finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, and long-listed for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize.

Sara Brickman

Faculty

Coming Soon

Photo of Marianne Brogan

Marianne Brogan

Artistic Director

Marianne Brogan grew up in a musical family and played flute, piano, guitar and drums. In middle age she found her instrument – the ukulele – and that was that.

She founded the Portland (Oregon) Ukulele Association in 2001, and has been happily teaching ukulele, and organizing events for well over a decade.

Photo of Canote Bros

Canote Bros

Faculty

Photo of Lloyd Buchanan

Lloyd Buchanan

Faculty

Lloyd Buchanan is rooted in Gospel and the Blues. His connection to the Hammond organ began at a very early age in church accompanying his mother.

Photo of George Cables

George Cables

Faculty

When George Cables was going to school in New York City he used to walk the streets at night, taking in the cosmopolitan sights and sounds, mentally recording his encounters with “so many different kinds of people.” In his musical career as well, Cables has prowled side streets and main thoroughfares in relative anonymity, absorbing countless influences into his personal style.

Etienne Cakpo

Faculty

Gigi Callaizakis

Director of Human Resources

Gigi Callaizakis (Director of Human Resources) joined Centrum in May of 2011. She relocated to Port Townsend from Denver in 2006 with her husband. Gigi’s Human Resources background includes independent consulting for higher education, medical manufacturing and non-profit human services organizations. Beginning her HR career at ADP’s payroll service processing unit in Denver, she also went on to lead the HR Departments in the pharmaceutical, casino and youth services nonprofit industries.…

Photo of Obed Calvaire

Obed Calvaire

Faculty

Obed Calvaire, a native of Miami and of Haitian descent is a graduate with both a master and bachelor degree of music from one of America’s premiere private music conservatories in the nation, Manhattan School of Music.

Photo of Todd Cambio

Todd Cambio

Faculty

Todd Cambio is the owner and builder of Fraulini Guitars. Todd has played music his whole life, with a focus on traditional American blues, rags, and old time. As a teenager he played blues with old timers in Chicago and spent time in his 20’s as a street musician playing country blues and ragtime.…

Catalina Cantú

Curatorial Resident

Catalina Cantú (Xicana) is of Indigenous Mexican/Madeiran heritage born in San Francisco, California. Before moving to Washington, Cantú lived on the border in Brownsville, Texas, where the Cantú family has lived since it was México. Her immigrant maternal grandparents came to California from Madeira, an island colonized by the Portuguese, west of North Africa. Cantú is a multi-genre writer, interdisciplinary artist, social justice activist, Jack Straw Fellow, and Alum of VONA/Voices, and The Mineral School.…

Photo of Lucinda Carver

Lucinda Carver

Artistic Director, Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival

Lucinda was appointed Port Townsend Chamber Music Festival Artistic Director in late 2009. Called “a first rate conductor” by the New York Times, she is active as a conductor / pianist and her orchestral appearances have included the National Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Opera conducting credits include the Minnesota Opera, New York City Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.…

Sabrina Chacon-Barajas

Faculty

Sabrina Chacon-Barajas graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a BA in Studio Art and is currently working on her M.Ed at UW Bothell. Her artwork incorporates multi-media art to represent the intersectional identity of being a woman of color from immigrant parents. Sabrina is a teaching artist that cares about representation in the classroom through the power of the arts.…

Photo of Cláudio Rabeca Band

Cláudio Rabeca Band

Cláudio Rabeca is a fiddle player, composer, singer, teacher, music producer and luthier from the Northeast of Brasil. For more than 20 years he has fiddled, sang, and played percussion with multiple Brasilian groups, including 11 years with the forró group Quarteto Olinda. After he dedicated himself fully to the fiddle, he found that the instrument informed his creative process and is the basis for his singing.…

Photo of John Clayton

John Clayton

Artistic Director, Jazz Port Townsend

Bassist, Composer, Arranger and Producer, John Clayton, is a busy man. With a Grammy on his shelf and nine additional nominations, artists such as Diana Krall, Paul McCartney, Regina Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Gladys Knight, Queen Latifah, and Charles Aznavour have had spots on his crowded calendar.

Photo of Dawn Clement

Dawn Clement

Faculty

Pianist, composer, and vocalist Dawn Clement moved two years ago from Seattle to Denver, Colorado, to take on the role of Assistant Professor and Area Coordinator of the Jazz and American Music Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Photo of Anat Cohen

Anat Cohen

Faculty

Anat Cohen has been declared Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association every year since 2007 and has also been named the top clarinetist in both the readers and critics polls in DownBeat for multiple years running, and in 2009, ASCAP awarded her a Wall of Fame prize for composition and musicianship, among other honors. In October 2017 –Happy Song – the debut release from the Tentet found her drawing on diverse musical loves, from Brazilian music to African grooves, from vintage swing to touching ballads.

Photo of Elizabeth Colen

Elizabeth Colen

Faculty

EJ Colen is a PNW-based educator, writer, and editor interested in long-form poetry, the lyric essay, literary and visual collage, and research-based approaches to storytelling and memoir.

Photo of Gary Copeland Lilley

Gary Copeland Lilley

Artistic Curator, Writers Conference

Gary is the author of eight books of poetry, the most recent being The Bushman’s Medicine Show, from Lost Horse Press (2017), and a chapbook, The Hog Killing, from Blue Horse Press (2018). He earned his MFA from the Warren Wilson College Program for Creative Writers. Lilley is a veteran of the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarine force.…

Photo of Allison De Groot

Allison De Groot

Faculty

Banjo virtuoso Allison de Groot is known for her great clawhammer technique, exquisite tone, timing, and taste. She has deep roots in the old time tradition and yet she’s fearless when it comes to breaking new ground. In addition to playing with Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, she is also member of the super group the Goodbye Girls, and tours often with the Tatiana Hargreaves.

Alyssa de Leon

Program Manager for Creative Youth Development

Alyssa de Leon (Program Manager for Creative Youth Development) was raised in the forests of Northern California on a steady diet of reggae music, arts festivals, and hippie counterculture. She studied education, philosophy, and politics at the Dominican University of California, and went on to obtain a Master’s of Education. Her professional career has ranged from preschool and forest school director to aquarium naturalist, to Community Radio Station Manager.…

Photo of Nikki Dee

Nikki Dee

Faculty

Nikki Dee is an award-winning vocalist and transformational vocal coach based in Honolulu. Her renowned Deeva Method takes the mystery and confusion out of vocal technique, making vocal power, confidence, and healing accessible to singers and speakers around the world.

Photo of Alice Derry

Alice Derry

Faculty

Alice Derry is the author of five volumes of poetry, most recently Hunger (MoonPath 2018) along with three chapbooks, including translations of poems by Rainer Rilke. 

Photo of Nova Karina Devonie

Nova Karina Devonie

Faculty

Nova Karina Devonie hails originally from Vancouver, B.C. She has been delighting audiences with her sensitive (and sometimes humorous) accordion playing, sonorous singing style, and sideways fashion sense since the 1980’s.

Taylor Dow

Faculty

Coming Soon

Photo of Chuck Easton

Chuck Easton

Faculty

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Chuck Easton is equally at home on the bass, flute, piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and violin, though he is best known for his jazz guitar work.

Rebecca Elatiki

Faculty

Rebecca is a Moroccan-American artist and activist, whose work lives at the intersection of art, humanitarian work, and cultural curiosity. Her professional roots in social work have provided her training in trauma-informed care, and enabled her to travel the world, working with diverse and vulnerable populations. From orphanages in India to healing circles in Latin America, she has used creative arts as a vehicle for cross-cultural connection and healing.…

Photo of Pamela English

Pamela English

Faculty

Pam English’s musical journey began at age three, when Pam began singing in the youth choir at Unity Baptist Church Detroit. Private piano lessons began at age 7 and she recorded her first album with the youth choir at age 9. Pam began playing for churches, directing and teaching choirs at the age of 10. This continued throughout high school, college, and well into her adult musical career.…

Robert Eyerman

Robert Eyerman, aka Bboy Bobby Drake, started breaking in 2005 at the age of 13. Three years later he co-founded the Dog Pound Crew. His group works frequently alongside the Seattle Theater Group, dancing in productions such as DANCE This, Global Party, and Sasquatch Music Festival. Robert highly values education, graduating from the University of Washington with two degrees – chemistry and biochemistry.…

Robert Eyerman

Faculty

Coming Soon

Photo of Melissa Febos

Melissa Febos

Faculty

Melissa Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart; and three essay collections: Abandon Me, a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist and Publishing Triangle Award finalist; Girlhood, a national bestseller; and Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative.

Photo of Mary Flower

Mary Flower

Faculty

Mary Flower’s immense finger picking guitar and lap-slide prowess is soulful and meter-perfect, a deft blend of the inventive, the dexterous and the mesmerizing. Her supple honey-and-whiskey voice provides the perfect melodic accompaniment to each song’s story.

Danielle Fodor

Faculty

Danielle Fodor is a visual artist who works with the communities and individuals to create vibrant visions of today and tomorrow. She has worked with hundreds of volunteers to paint murals and public plazas, designed giant puppets and banners, and written and illustrated indie comics and zines. Her work transforms people and places by celebrating common ground, expressing unspoken emotions, and nourishing the connections between people, place, and the natural world.…

Photo of Foghorn String Band

Foghorn String Band

The Foghorn Stringband is the present day gold standard for real-deal hard-hitting genuine old-time American string band music, with nine albums, thousands of shows, over 15 years of touring under their belts, and an entirely new generation of roots musicians following their lead.

Photo of Brittney Frantece

Brittney Frantece

Curatorial Resident

Brittney Frantece is a writer, artist, educator, curator, and Ph.D. candidate at University of Washington (UW). Her work engages concepts of speculation, horror, and magic. She engages Black literary and visual arts to find new ways of thinking, being, and knowledge productions Black imaginations offer. She has conducted workshops and courses for UW’s English and American Ethnic Studies departments, The Northwest School, and the Henry Art Gallery.…

Gwen Franz

Interim Program Manager Chamber, Jazz

Gwen Franz is excited to join the Centrum team as Interim Program Manager of Chamber Music, Choro, and Jazz. She brings many years of experience as a classical violist, soloist, chamber musician, orchestral member, recording artist and concert producer. Gwen discovered Fiddle Tunes at Centrum in 2007, then became a regular attender of the Brazilian Choro Workshop since 2010, and in 2019, was a participate in Jazz Port Townsend.…

Photo of CMarie Fuhrman

CMarie Fuhrman

Faculty

CMarie Fuhrman is the author of Camped Beneath the Dam: Poems (Floodgate 2020) and co-editor of Native Voices: Indigenous Poetry, Craft, and Conversations (Tupelo 2019).

Photo of Tia Fuller

Tia Fuller

Faculty

When Grammy-nominated Mack Avenue recording artist, composer, and bandleader ​Tia Fuller​ picks up her saxophone, something amazing happens. Blending technical brilliance, melodic creativity, and the performing precision drawn from both her academic and stage experience, Fuller is a force to be reckoned with in the worlds of jazz, pop, R&B, and more.

Photo of Tess Gallagher

Tess Gallagher

Faculty

Tess Gallagher’s eleventh volume of poetry, Is, Is Not, was published May 2019 by Graywolf Press.  Midnight Lantern: New and Selected Poems, also from Graywolf, is the most comprehensive offering of her poems to date.

Luna Garcia

Faculty

Luna Garcia started dancing Folklorico at age seven with the dance group Joyas Mestizas. In 2007, she started teaching with Joyas Mestizas, and she started dancing with Bailadores de Bronce. Dancing and teaching with both organizations, she has been able to promote and present the beauty of Folklorico throughout the Seattle area. She has taken classes and workshops with renowned Folklorico teachers such as Jose Tena from New Mexico State University and Samuel Cortez from Los Lupeños, San Jose.

Photo of Michael Glynn

Michael Glynn

Born in Seattle, Michael Glynn began playing bass at the age of 11. Beginning his jazz studies with former Count Basie and Louis Armstrong bassist Buddy Catlett, Michael starting working professionally while still a student at Garfield High School, where he played for four years in that school’s renowned jazz band. After two years in engineering school at Columbia University in New York City, Michael returned to Seattle where he graduated summa cum laude in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Washington, where he studied under Doug Miller and Barry Lieberman.…

Photo of Justin Golden

Justin Golden

Faculty

With roots in the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, and the Piedmont of Virginia, Richmond-based guitarist and songwriter Justin Golden’s origins are deeply vested in the blues.

Photo of Rick Good

Rick Good

Faculty

One of the founders of the famous string band, The Hotmud Family, Rick Good is an accomplished guitarist, banjo player, singer and songwriter. A performer of traditional and original music, Good’s career has spanned nearly four decades.

Katy Goodman

Senior Director of Development

Katy Goodman (Senior Director of Development) has spent her career as a passionate advocate for the power of the arts, working to create meaningful community connections and celebrate diversity and beauty through cultural expression. After graduating from Oberlin College, she spent two decades as a non-profit leader and fundraiser in Houston, Texas, where she co-founded and was director of the creative youth development organization Workshop Houston.…

Photo of Wycliffe Gordon

Wycliffe Gordon

Faculty

Wycliffe Gordon’s busy schedule encompasses performing, composing, arranging and recording. He is the recipient of many awards: He has been named him “Trombonist of the Year” 12 times The Jazz Journalists Association, and “Best Trombone” five of the past six years by the Downbeat Critics Poll.

Eric Greenwell

Program Manager for Writing

Eric Greenwell (he/him) has worked for many years with talented teams to preserve both natural and cultural spaces across the Intermountain and Pacific Northwest so communities in these regions can thrive. Community in this context means communities of people, artists, plants, and wildlife, and he carries a particular affinity for writing as a medium that makes community stronger, for its potential to convey honestly and unflinchingly diverse perspectives.…

Michelle Hagewood

Artist Residency Program Manager

Michelle Hagewood (Artist Residency Program Manager) joined Centrum in 2019. She is a practicing artist and brings over fourteen years of experience in artist collaborations and educational programming in museums. Prior to Centrum she was the Associate Curator of Public and Youth Programs at the Henry Art Gallery and has held positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R.…

Photo of Randy Halberstadt

Randy Halberstadt

Faculty

Randy Halberstadt has been a major figure on the Pacific Northwest jazz scene for many years. A pianist, arranger, composer, lyricist, and author, Randy enjoys an international performing career playing with musicians at the top of their game.

Photo of Jon Hamar

Jon Hamar

Faculty

Jon Hamar is a versatile bassist who is comfortable in virtually any musical situation. Born in Kennewick, Washington he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Double Bass Performance from Eastern Washington University and a Master’s degree in Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music.

Photo of Jeff Hamilton

Jeff Hamilton

Faculty

Versatile drummer Jeff Hamilton brings originality to every group he performs with, and it’s one of the things that makes him constantly in demand, whether for recording, performing with his trio, or co-leading the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

Photo of Jon Hansen

Jon Hansen

Faculty

John Hansen is one of the most in-demand jazz pianists in the Northwest. A studied and musical ensemble player with a strong melodic vocabulary, John has always been recognizable for a unique personal voice.

Photo of Tatiana Hargreaves

Tatiana Hargreaves

Faculty

Over the past decade, Tatiana Hargreaves has been on the forefront of an up and coming generation of old time, bluegrass and new acoustic musicians. From placing first at the Clifftop Appalachian Fiddle Contest, to her bluegrass fiddling on Laurie Lewis’ GRAMMY-nominated album The Hazel And Alice Sessions, Hargreaves shows a musical fluency that flows between old time and bluegrass worlds with ease.

Photo of Derrick Harriell

Derrick Harriell

Faculty

Derrick Harriell is the Ottilie Schillig Associate Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi.

Savannah Hensel

Program Assistant – Youth

Photo of Bridge Hill Kennedy

Bridge Hill Kennedy

Faculty

Dr. Kennedy (he/him/his), attended his first Sacred Harp singing in June of 2002. This life changing event came about when he was invited to accompany his sister-in-law to a singing for a commissioned painting (“All Day Singing and Dinner on the Grounds” by Bethanne Hill, 2003, commissioned by Max Berueffy).

Mary Hilts

Program Manager, Red Hot Strings, Acoustic Blues / Development Manager

Mary Hilts (Program Manager, Red Hot Strings, Acoustic Blues / Development Manager) joined the Centrum staff in 2003. Mary manages Red Hot Strings and the Acoustic Blues programs; and assists with resource development and the Board of Directors. A graduate of Washington State University, Mary also completed Jazz Studies at Shoreline Community College, and Los Angeles Harbor College.…

Photo of Daniel Ho

Daniel Ho

Faculty

From his simple beginnings in Honolulu to his life amid the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, Daniel Ho has worked over the years as a musician, producer, singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, engineer, and record company owner. The most compelling of these roles has been as a six-time GRAMMY Award winning producer, featured slack key guitarist, and artist in the “Best Hawaiian Music Album,” “Best Pop Instrumental Album,” and “Best World Music Album” categories.

Photo of Gary Hobbs

Gary Hobbs

Faculty

Drummer Gary Hobbs is a native of the Pacific Northwest and lives in Vancouver, WA. He has played professionally for over 4 decades and appears on over 60 recordings.

Photo of Brandon Hobson

Brandon Hobson

Faculty

Dr. Brandon Hobson is a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow. He received his Ph.D from Oklahoma State University. His novel, Where The Dead Sit Talking, was a finalist for the National Book Award, winner of the Reading The West Award, and longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, among other distinctions.

Photo of Jayy Hopp

Jayy Hopp

Faculty

Jayy Hopp was born in Lagrange and started playing music with Gospel (drumming at first, until his cousin formally introduced him to the guitar). Gospel and R&B music was very influential in his formative years. The guitar grooves and distinctive sounds always caught his ear. As he aged, Jayy Hopp expanded his musical vocabulary. He started listening closely to Jimi Hendrix playing style, which led him to Buddy Guy, Albert Collins, Jimmy Dawkins, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, Son Seals, Hubert Sumlin, Robert Ward (his uncle) and Ike Turner.…

Photo of Ravi Howard

Ravi Howard

Faculty

Ravi Howard is the author of two novels, Like, Trees, Walking and Driving the King (HarperCollins). In addition to being selected as a finalist for the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award, Like, Trees, Walking won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Photo of Benjamin Hunter

Benjamin Hunter

Faculty

Benjamin Hunter is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, community activist, social entrepreneur, and educator. Benjamin’s work explores the intersections of music & art, community, policy, and culture.

Photo of Jourdan Imani Keith

Jourdan Imani Keith

Faculty

Jourdan Imani Keith is Seattle’s 2019- 2022 Civic Poet.  Featured in Forbes and on NPR, her Orion Magazine essays, Desegregating Wilderness and At Risk appear in the Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology, as well as text books.

Photo of Tyler Jackson

Tyler Jackson

Faculty

Tyler Jackson is a world renown tenor banjoist and upright bassist. Under the tutelage of Buddy Griffin, Tyler quickly learned the ukulele, tenor banjo, and electric bass. Tyler went on to study the double bass at the University of North Texas under Lynn Seaton and began to fine-tune his skills as a professional bassist.

Jaime Jaynes

Marketing & Communications Director

Jaime Jaynes (Marketing & Communications Director) was born and raised in Port Townsend, attended Centrum’s Youth Art Camps as a high school student, and played the string bass in Port Townsend High School’s Chamber & Symphony Orchestras. She has a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the School at the Art Institute of Chicago. For the past ten years, she has been working at Nike as a Brand Marketing Director focusing on the omnichannel growth of their women’s business.…

Photo of Hubby Jenkins

Hubby Jenkins

Faculty

Hubby Jenkins is a talented multi-instrumentalist who endeavors to share his love and knowledge of old-time American music.

Photo of Reverend Robert Jones

Reverend Robert Jones

Faculty

Rev. Robert Jones, Sr. is a native Detroiter and an inspirational storyteller and musician celebrating the history, humor and power of American Roots music. His deep love for traditional African American and American traditional music is shared in live performances that interweave timeless stories with original and traditional songs.

Photo of Shari Kane

Shari Kane

Faculty

Shari started playing guitar at the age of five. By the early 1970’s she had become a devoted blues fan, and learned how to play fingerstyle blues on the acoustic guitar.

Photo of Kari Karsten

Kari Karsten

Curatorial Resident

A member of the Seneca nation, Kari holds an MA in Museology from the University of Washington and a BS in Communications and Rhetorical Studies with a minor in visual culture from Syracuse University. She is currently the gallery manager for the Columbia City Art Gallery. Her previous experiences have included work at Seattle Art Museum, Seneca-Iroquois National Museum, Mount Rainier Curatorial Department, ArtRage Gallery, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.…

Photo of Mara Kaye

Mara Kaye

Faculty

Referred to by Jazz Lives as “one of New York’s great gifts to the world,” blues and jazz vocalist Mara Kaye is “like some lost pocket of the blues that had never been explored in the old days, all wrapped up in a ball of 21st-century Brooklyn-bred attitude.” For over a decade she has traveled internationally and throughout the US, sharing legendary stages with champions of the genre, singing beloved songs of the past with a deep passion and respect for its original storytellers.

Photo of Aaron Keim

Aaron Keim

Faculty

Aaron Keim is a historian, banjo picker, ukulele ambassador, old time songster, luthier and author. Aaron has been teaching ukulele and banjo techniques and performing at festivals since 2004. As an educator with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and a master’s degree in Musicology, his true talents lie in his ability to adapt instruction to fit a wide range of learners and learning styles.

Raymond Kennedy

Finance Manager

Raymond Kennedy (Finance Manager) joined Centrum in 2020, having served as a senior finance executive in companies large and small, including Procter & Gamble, Fidelity Investments, and more recently Senior Services of Island County. Ray has a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Binghamton University in New York. He moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2016 and now resides in Port Townsend Washington.

Photo of Rex Kinney

Rex Kinney

Faculty

Rex Kinney (he/him) is the Associate Director of Education overseeing education initiatives and productions at Seattle Theatre Group. He is a dance educator, producer, choreographer and teaching artist. His goals are to be able to highlight the vibrant stories of our artists and provide a space that all learners can discover an environment that is surrounded by community, imagination and creativity.…

Katya Kirsch

Development Officer

Katya Kirsch (Development Officer) joined Centrum in February 2015 after 36 years of work with Alaska conservation organizations, including over 3 years as the Executive Director of Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. A skilled facilitator, she has also consulted for Alaskan outdoor education and humane non-profits. Katya holds a B.S. in communications from Skidmore College.

Photo of Caleb Klauder

Caleb Klauder

Faculty

Raised on Orcas Island, WA, then on to college and the 30 years to follow in Oregon, and then back to Washington again, Caleb is a true north-westerner. Yet
his maternal family roots lay in East Tennessee. These deep family roots contribute to his music through old memories, bringing you the strong singing and spirited attitude that gives his music a cutting and sweet edge. Caleb has written many songs, some that are performed by others and some that are becoming standards at jam sessions in the bluegrass scenes across the US, Canada, and in Europe.

Photo of Hannah Krafcik

Hannah Krafcik

Artist

Hannah Krafcik is a Portland-based interdisciplinary neuroqueer artist and writer whose work emerges from ongoing reflections on social patterning and censorship, (over)stimulation, perseveration, and intuition. Their practices include dance and new media. They often create performances and teach in collaboration with artistic partner, Emily Jones.

Austin Krieg

Lead Production Technician

Austin Krieg is a lifelong Port Townsend local who first started working at Centrum in his senior year of high school. Austin has worked professionally in many different roles both on stage and backstage between Key City Public Theatre, Port Townsend Highschool, and a few shows in Seattle with the Production Alliance. You may catch Austin at Centrum doing anything from lights and sound to video and stage building.…

Photo of Sasha LaPointe

Sasha LaPointe

Faculty

Sasha LaPointe is from the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribe. Native to the Pacific Northwest, she draws inspiration from her coastal heritage as well as her life in the city.

Photo of Chaz Leary

Chaz Leary

Faculty

Though comfortable in all forms of our diverse American musical heritage, Washboard Chaz Leary has achieved dominance and international recognition in acoustic country blues.

Photo of Corey Ledet

Corey Ledet

Faculty

Corey Ledet was born and raised in Houston, Texas, but spent his summers in Parks, Louisiana immersed at all times in the Creole culture. He learned everything he could so he could incorporate the culture in all areas of his life – the traditions, the food, and most importantly, the music. His love for the Creole/Zydeco music was instant and hard for him to ignore.…

Photo of Ethan Leinwand

Ethan Leinwand

Faculty

Barrelhouse blues pianist and preservationist based in St. Louis, MO, and a student of the music’s rich history and varied regional styles, Ethan Leinwand presents personal interpretations of many of the great (and forgotten) old-time masters.

Photo of Sam Ligon

Sam Ligon

Faculty

Sam Ligon’s most recent novel — Miller Cane: A True & Exact History — was serialized for a year in Spokane’s weekly newspaper, The Inlander, as well as on Spokane Public Radio.

Photo of Alexandre Lora

Alexandre Lora

Faculty

Alexandre Lora moves easily within different styles of Brazilian popular music, performing as a drummer and percussionist. He has been on the faculty of Centrum’s Choro Workshop since 2012. He has performed extensively in Europe including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and a tour of 33 cities in Spain.

Photo of Douglas Lora

Douglas Lora

Faculty

Composer and guitarist Douglas Lora moves with versatility between classical and popular music, and has been established as one of the most prominent artists of his generation. A member of the Brasil Guitar Duo (with Joao Luiz) for more than fifteen years, and seven-string guitarist of the choro and samba band Caraivana, Douglas Lora has a full touring schedule worldwide, and has collaborated with artists including Paquito d’Rivera, Marco Pereira, Jovino Santos Neto, Ney Rosauro, Marina Piccinini, and many others.

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Grace Love

Faculty

Singer songwriter Grace Love is the Olympic Peninsula’s shining jewel of grit, beauty and power – think Etta James and Betty Wright meet Mahalia Jackson. She grew up in Tacoma, just a stone’s throw from Seattle, which infused her R&B melodies with fortitude and grunge.

Photo of Kelby MacNayr

Kelby MacNayr

Drummer / composer / band-leader Kelby MacNayr performs groundbreaking original music, soulful swinging jazz, reaching contemporary music and traditional music from around the world. A dynamic and creative musician MacNayr performs in Canada and abroad with leading musicians from New York, Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto & Europe. A faculty member of the renowned Jazz Port Townsend Festival under director John Clayton, staff at the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival, Kelby follows his passion to create and collaborate, teach and learn.

Linda Madison

Human Resources Consultant

Linda is a dynamic change agent with a track record of innovative leadership in transformational operations. With extensive proficiency in non-profit fiscal forecasting, cash management, budgeting, ad hoc reporting, and financial dashboarding of key performance indicators, she consistently delivers pristine financial reports, tailor-made for diverse audiences.

Beyond her financial acumen, Linda’s holistic approach to business extends to overseeing critical support functions like HR, Risk, IT, and Facilities management.…

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Dudu Maia

Artistic Director, Choro

Dudu Maia brings a lifetime of research and study of Brazil’s greatest musical traditions to his work. A virtuoso of the bandolim (a Portuguese version of the mandolin), Dudu served for five years as the bandolim professor of Brazil’s most respected Choro school, the Escola Brasileira de Choro Raphael Rabello in Brasília.

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Rachel Manke

Faculty

Rachel Manke has been playing the ukulele for over 20 years. It’s the passion that has fueled adventure and friendships in her life. She is a skilled player in a vaudeville vein who has taken flourish and technique from that stage into various genres.

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Rodrigo Mantovani

Faculty

Born and raised in Brazil, Rodrigo has always had a deep love for American blues and roots music from a very young age. Rodrigo has been a member of some of the first ground breaking Blues bands in Brazil and because of his deep knowledge regarding the Traditional Blues, expertise and feel for the Blues, he has also been a first call bassist for many of the premier American Blues acts touring and recording with heavy weights of the Blues scene

Photo of Rene Marie

Rene Marie

In a span of two decades, René Marie has cemented her reputation not only as a singer but also as a composer, arranger, actress and educator. Guided and tempered by powerful life lessons and rooted in jazz traditions laid down by icons of past generations, this two-time Grammy Nominee melds jazz with elements of spirituals, folk, R&B, classical and even country to create a captivating hybrid style.…

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Marlon Martinez

Faculty

Hailing from Los Angeles, Marlon Martinez is a young virtuoso bassist and composer emerging at the center of the resurgent Los Angeles jazz scene. He has demonstrated his virtuosity while touring with a wide range of artists, from rock icon Stewart Copeland to classical trailblazers Quatuor Ebène.

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Mikiya Matsuda

Faculty

Mikiya Matsuda is a steel guitarist and sometimes string bassist living in San Francisco, CA. He is the leader of the Alcatraz Islanders, a swing-era Hawaiian group, and a regular sideman with various traditional jazz and western swing dance bands in the Bay Area.

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Sebastian Matthews

Faculty

Sebastian Matthews’ latest books are a memoir in essays, Beyond Repair: Living in a Fractured State (Red Hen Press), and a hybrid collection of poetry and prose, Beginner’s Guide to a Head-on Collision (Red Hen Press), an Independent Publisher’s Book Award winner.

Peter McCracken

Program Manager: Fiddle Tunes, Voice Works, Ukulele

Peter McCracken (Program Manager, Fiddle Tunes, Voice Works, Ukulele) has served at Centrum in various capacities, including Arts Program Director and Traditional Arts Program Manager. In 1992, he started the blues workshop and festival, bringing five National Heritage Award recipients to Fort Worden to perform and teach. McCracken led the initial curatorial project for Centrum’s Festival of American Fiddle Tunes Preservation and Stabilization project in 2000, producing Volume 1 of the Fiddle Tunes Archives.…

Margie McDonald

Faculty

Margie McDonald is the artistic director for the Port Townsend Wearable Art Show now heading into its sixth year.
Margie’s work in Wearable art and sculpture has been exhibited in the New Zealand World of Wearable Art Exhibition, Bainbridge Island Art Museum, Museum of Northwest Art, Northwind Arts Center and Simon Mace Gallery.

Tim McNalley

Eduardo Mendonça

Faculty

Eduardo Mendonça —musician, producer and composer—is a native of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Eduardo received his degree in Arts Education from the Music Institute of the Catholic University of Salvador.

He is the Music Director for iBuildBridges Foundation, and is the Artistic Director for the international performance ensemble Show Brazil!

Jacqueline Mention

Box Office Manager

Originally from Los Angeles, Jacqueline moved to Port Townsend in 2010 and in quick succession began working with Centrum.  Beginning her tenure as a Youth Program Assistant, she has since worn many hats with the organization—from Volunteer Coordinator, to overseeing the Artists in Residence, to managing the Centrum Print Collection.  She now happily balances her work life between Centrum’s Operations Department and her décor business, Biquette Interiors, in Uptown Port Townsend. …

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Kristen Millares Young

Faculty

Kristen Millares Young is the author of the novel Subduction, named a staff pick by The Paris Review and called “whip-smart” by the Washington Post, “a brilliant debut” by the Seattle Times and “utterly unique and important” by Ms. Magazine.

Chris Miller

Program Assistant: Fiddle Tunes, Voice Works, Ukulele

Hali Miller

Registrar

Hali Miller (Registrar) relocated to Port Townsend at the age of five when her father, Bill Ransom, founded and directed the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference at Centrum. Hali has been a PT “local” ever since.

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Roin Morigeau

Artist

Roin Morigeau is a stʕámiyaʔ (Two-Spirit) interdisciplinary artist using mixed-media such as drawing, painting, installation, and beadwork to explore the dichotomy between matriarchal and patriarchal space. Living with physical limitations and chronic pain from a spinal injury, Roin centers their art practice as a form of protest and healing. Roin is Bitterroot Salish Flathead Nation/ Northern European and lives in unceded Spokane territories where they were raised.

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Matt Munisteri

Artistic Curator, Red Hot Strings

Guitarist, singer, songwriter, and Brooklyn native Matt Munisteri grew up with early interest in American folk music that led him from finger-style Country and Ragtime guitar, through Blues, to Tin Pan Alley and Jazz. His own compositions, and lauded guitar playing, accurately reflect this life-long immersion in the history of American Popular Song; linking rural and urban, long-gone with contemporary.

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Lewis Nash

Faculty

Lewis Nash is one of jazz’s most recorded musicians, appearing on over 500 recordings including 10 Grammy winners and numerous Grammy nominees. In fact, Nash has the distinction of being the only musician in jazz history featured on the winners in both the “Best Jazz Vocal” and “Best Jazz Instrumental” album categories in two separate years: the 2004 Grammys with Nancy Wilson and McCoy Tyner, and again in 2010 with Dee Dee Bridgewater and James Moody.

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Jim Nelson

Faculty

Jim Nelson is a veteran of the old-time music scene, having honed his guitar skills through many years of playing with senior dance fiddlers, especially Bob Holt of Ava, Missouri and Lotus Dickey of Paoli, Indiana, and by keeping a close eye on some of the older guitar players. He has been playing with Geoff Seitz for the past 40 years, and along with Geoff and Curt Buckhannon.

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Johnny Nicholas

Faculty

Time is a river and you can never step in the same river twice. It’s all gonna change, but what came before shapes what comes after. There are certain people who seem to be in both places at once. Johnny Nicholas has played music and rambled with some of the most original and artistically powerful individuals of the American 20th century.

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Miles Okazaki

Faculty

Miles Okazaki is a NYC-based guitarist originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as “utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting — not just in jazz, but any kind.”

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Jerron Paxton

Faculty

Jerron Paxton served as the Artistic Director of the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival & Workshop from 2014-2019 and we are honored to have him return as artist faculty.

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Nick Pence

Faculty

Nick Pence is a well-known guitar player from St. Louis. Nick plays with The Bottlesnakes, The Dust Covers or The New Missouri Fox Hunters. These two have worked together in the past, including forming a gospel group The Houndsteeth.

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Phil and Russ Tanner

Gid Tanner was a farmer in Dacula, Georgia, and played the fiddle on the side. By 1926, he and other musicians such as Clayton McMichen on fiddle and Riley Puckett on guitar, created a group called Gid Tanner and the Skillet Lickers

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Karin Plato

Faculty

Canadian vocalist and composer Karin Plato came to jazz almost by accident. The music she heard in her formative years was the rock and pop music of the day and the classical music she studied from a young age. She didn’t get the “jazz bug” until she was in her early 30’s and that’s when her music career really began when she made the move from central Canada to the West Coast.

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Randy Porter

Faculty

Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication between musicians. As a Steinway Artist, Randy Porter draws from a rich palette of sonorities found within his imagination and the depths of the piano.

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Rena Priest

Faculty

Rena Priest is a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation. She is the incumbent Washington State Poet Laureate and Maxine Cushing Gray Distinguished Writing Fellow. Priest is also the recipient of an Allied Arts Foundation Professional Poets Award and fellowships from Indigenous Nations Poets and the Vadon Foundation.

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Mark Puryear

Faculty

Mark Puryear is a musician, ethnomusicologist, and curator. For the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, he curated the 2011 Rhythm and Blues: Tell It Like It Is program as well as the Freedom Sounds event that celebrated the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

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Anna Quinn

Faculty

Anna Quinn is the author of The Night Child, (Blackstone) listed as #1 Best Real Psychological Fiction on Goodreads, and Ingram’s 2018 Best Book Club Book. Her second novel, Angeline, (Blackstone) will be released Feb. 7th, 2023.

Sue Randolph

Finance Associate

In addition to being skilled in keeping the books tight, Sue is an avid gardener who grows her own food. Her knowledge of plants and how to transplant, graft, feed, grow huge and harvest is profound. Her kind gentle nature is unwavering and her positive “can do” attitude keeps the wheels at Centrum turning without a squeak.

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Laura Read

Faculty

Laura Read is the author of But She Is Also Jane, forthcoming from University of Massachusetts Press in 2023, Dresses from the Old Country (BOA, 2018), Instructions for My Mother’s Funeral (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012), and The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You (Floating Bridge Press, 2011).

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Liette Remon

Faculty

Liette grew up in the Gaspesie region of Quebec in a small municipality called Petit-Pabos. Music happened only at home, when her father’s fiddler friends would drop by, and at family get-togethers, once or twice a week, where music (along with a glass of gin and food) was the focus. They’d mainly sing popular songs, with traditional songs and fiddle tunes mixed in among them.

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Anastacia Reneé

Faculty

Anastacia Reneé is an award-winning cross-genre writer, educator, interdisciplinary artist, TEDX speaker and podcaster.

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Del Rey

Faculty

Del Rey started playing guitar when she was four years old. At thirteen, she was immersed in the world of folk music, via the San Diego Folk Festival. She has tried to get a whole band onto her solo instrument from the beginning. This gives her music an interesting complexity, especially when applied to the ukulele.

Jonathan Rizzardi

Faculty

Jonathan M. Rizzardi (they/he) is a Seattle-area performing artist and theatre historian. After moving from Washington, D.C. to complete their PhD in Theatre History and Theory at the University of Washington School of Drama, Jonathan has continued to teach youth theatre, act, facilitate arts educator training programs, and develop social activist-focused curriculum here in the PNW.…

George Rodriguez

Faculty

George Rodriguez received a BFA in ceramics from the University of Texas El Paso and an MFA from the University of Washington. As a recipient of a Bonderman Travel Fellowship he traveled the world through most of 2010 visiting 26 countries in the span of 10 months. The Museum of Northwest Art recently recognized him as an Emerging Artist Luminary.…

Michelle J. Rodriguez

Michelle J. Rodriguez is an artist who performs and writes in the worlds of music and theater. Raised in the Pacific Northwest and Kentucky by her Puerto Rican parents, Ms. Rodriguez was raised in Vermont, Chicago and NYC by her communities, inspiring her to explore kids-of-immigrants stories, divine femininity, intuition, healing and spaces in-between. Her music project MICHA became a finalist for NPR’s 2018 Tiny Desk Contest with her song “Nena Nena Nena,” praised for a “bilingual set spanning laid-back southern soul and Latin pop flare” (NPR).

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Pharis Romero

Artistic Director, Voice Works

Pharis has been singing and playing music her whole life. An early student of classical and country, she grew up performing with her family’s band and learning the songs and stories that made her want to dig deeper. These days she performs mostly with her husband Jason, and is equally at home disappearing into an old-time jam as she is singing on stage or teaching the joy of song and sound.

Marisol Rosa-Shapiro

Faculty

Marisol Rosa-Shapiro is a New York and Seattle-based performer, director, teaching artist, and creator of original works of theater. She is a graduate of Princeton University and of Giovanni Fusetti’s Lecoq-based Helikos School of Theatre Creation in Florence, Italy.

Her specialties include mask theater, mime, clown, commedia dell’arte, improvisation, physical comedy, movement-and ensemble-based creation and more.…

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Bobby Rush

Faculty

Bobby Rush was born Emmett Ellis, Jr. outside Homer, Louisiana, in 1933. He twanged a diddley bow before picking up a guitar around age 11, and his preacher father knew enough about a harmonica to pass along a few riffs to his progeny. The family relocated to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1948.

While still a teenager, Rush became a professional blues musician, adopting his stage name so as not to disrespect his devout dad.…

Sadie LeDonna and Shawn Kellogg

Sadie LeDonna and Shawn Kellogg have been teaching and performing together for over 7 years. They have organized festivals, summer camps, and workshops together and have created and performed in several independent full-length shows as well as with their own acts for a variety of events.
Sadie and Shawn founded Pop-Up Movement in 2019. Throughout the pandemic, they designed and built their gym in the Port Townsend area.…

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David Sanchez

Faculty

Latin Grammy Award winner David Sánchez is being hailed as “the most profound young tenor saxophonist working today. Born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, Sánchez began playing percussion and drums at age 8 before migrating to tenor saxophone four years later.

Photo of Jovino Santos Neto

Jovino Santos Neto

Faculty

Three-time Latin Grammy nominee Jovino Santos Neto, a master pianist, composer and arranger, is among the top Brazilian musicians working today. Currently based in Seattle, Washington, he has throughout his career been closely affiliated with the Brazilian master Hermeto Pascoal. He was an integral part of Pascoal’s group from 1977 to 1992, where he fine-tuned his artistry, performing around the world and co-producing several legendary records.

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Ann Savoy

Faculty

Ann Savoy is a musician, an author, a record producer, and a photographer. Her most recent endeavor is the acclaimed newly released “Adieu False Heart”, a CD of duets with the legendary Linda Ronstadt. As a musician she, has played guitar, fiddle, and accordion and traveled throughout the world with her husband accordionist Marc Savoy and fiddler Michael Doucet in the Savoy Doucet Cajun Band, with her all-woman band The Magnolia Sisters. and with Marc and their talented sons in the Savoy Family Band.

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Joel Savoy

Artistic Director

Son of Cajun music icons Marc and Ann, Joel Savoy is best described as an instigator. He has been at the forefront of the Louisiana music revival of the last 20 years and as a result he has become a highly visible figure in the American roots music community, placing him onstage alongside folks like John Fogerty, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle, and T-Bone Burnett.…

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Wilson Savoy

Faculty

Wilson was born into a musical family in Eunice, Louisiana, and grew up surrounded by Cajun music among other styles. As a teenager, under the spell of Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, Wilson fell in love with rock n’ roll and blues piano, and taught himself to play. A little later, he picked up one of his dad’s accordions, and later still, Cajun fiddle.

Photo of Eva Scow

Eva Scow

Faculty

Eva Scow is an American mandolinist and violinist from Fresno, California. She began studying music at a young age, starting on the piano and violin at age 4, and later adding the mandolin at age 8. Growing up she played in Classical orchestras and bands, exploring different kinds of music from Bluegrass to Brazilian Jazz.

Joe Seamons

Faculty

Coming Soon

Elia Seely

Program Assistant: Chamber, Jazz, Choro

Photo of Geoff Seitz

Geoff Seitz

Faculty

Geoff Seitz has been playing music since age eight and has been playing fiddle for over 45 years. Throughout his years of fiddling, Geoff sought out traditional master fiddlers and learned tunes in the old time style. Although Geoff has spent many hours with the Missouri Valley and Ozark fiddlers, he also learned from Appalachian fiddlers as well as fiddlers

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Katie Shore

Faculty

Like many fiddlers, Katie was inspired at a young age by her grandfather. At six years old she told her parents she wanted to “play music you can clap your hands and stomp your feet to”. Hailing from Ft. Worth “Cowtown”, Tx, Katie grew up playing in a world of strong fiddle traditions, attending fiddle contests, music camps such as Mark O’Connor’s and Johnny Gimble’s, and with some classical training, was part of the Ft Worth Youth Orchestra

Sierra Nelson and Rachel Kessler

Sierra Nelson and Rachel Kessler have been writing, performing, and creating installations together for over 15 years as co-founders of the literary performance groups “The Typing Explosion” and “Vis-à-Vis Society.”
Rachel Kessler is also a poet, essayist, and comics artist.
Poet and essayist Sierra Nelson has taught creative writing at University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Marine Labs.

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Moira Smiley

Faculty

Her clarion voice and joyous, embodied performances have carried Moira and her songs around the planet and inspired millions of harmony singers to sing her songs. She’s immersed herself in early American, Irish and East European vocal traditions and seeks to honor the many powerful, cultural roles of singing beyond stage and microphone

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Shirley Smith

Faculty

Shirley Smith is a Detroit native who studied under the tutelage of one of Detroit’s premier harpists and vocal instructors, Patricia Terry-Ross, who was her teacher at Detroit’s Cass Technical High School. Shirley studied voice, piano, and harp under Mrs. Ross.

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Gary Smulyan

Faculty

Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan was born April 4, 1956, in Bethpage, New York. The gifted multi-instrumentalist started his music career by first learning alto saxophone during his teenage years on Long Island.

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Daniela Spielman

Faculty

Daniela Spielmann has been part of the Brazilian choro scene since 1998 as a saxophonist, flutist, composer and arranger. Her music is current and at the same time respectful of the great Brazilian composers of the past. Her first CD as a member of the choro ensemble Rabo de Lagartixa (Gecko´s Tail) was given a critics’ the best instrumental CD of the year and in 2002 her first solo album, Brazilian Breath, was nominated for a Latin Grammy.

Photo of Terrell Stafford

Terrell Stafford

Faculty

Acclaimed New York–based trumpet player Terell Stafford has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Stafford combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous lyricism. Since the mid-90s Stafford has performed with groups such as Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, Kenny Barron Quintet, Frank Wess Quintet, and Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Alumni Band.

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David Steele

Faculty

Dave began performing as a barroom acoustic solo guitarist and singer while attending Allegheny College in Northwest Pennsylvania in the 1970’s. During the 80’s, Steele expanded his interest to electric blues, as a founding member of the Zipper City Blues Band.

Photo of Daniel Steinberg

Daniel Steinberg

Faculty

Daniel has been a musical performer and teacher for over 45 years, with a particular fascination with the traditional music and dance from diverse cultures around the world. He plays piano and flute with the contra dance band Hillbillies from Mars and with New England fiddler Rodney Miller, and has performed with many luminaries of the fiddle music scene, as well as several Latin American and African ensembles.

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Don Stiernberg

Faculty

Don Stiernberg has been a professional musician for nearly 50 years. Along the way he has been involved in performing, writing, recording, producing, and teaching but is best known for his mandolin playing. His path was set very early on as he grew up north of Chicago. Emulating his older brother, he experimented with playing various stringed instruments, finally landing on the mandolin.

Photo of Jonathan Stout

Jonathan Stout

Faculty

Los Angeles-based guitarist and bandleader Jonathan Stout is well-known to swing dancers everywhere for the wonderful dance orchestra he leads, but any fan of swing guitar currently stalking the internet knows him for the beautiful touch he brings to relaxed swinging versions of standards played chord-melody style on an array of prized old archtop guitars

Photo of Heidi Swedberg

Heidi Swedberg

Faculty

When she was 5 years old Heidi received her first ukulele from the Hawaiian Easter bunny while living in Kailua, HI. She has fond memories of teaching herself chords and writing songs in her room in Albuquerque NM, the place she thinks of as home. She picked the instrument up again in 1992 in Hollywood, CA while playing a singer-songwriter for a network TV pilot. Now life imitates art, and she plays music full time.

Angie Tabor

Faculty

Coming Soon

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Jay Thomas

Faculty

Jay Thomas is a multi-instrumentalist, appearing on more than 60 recordings that run the gamut from hip-hop to acid-jazz, rock, Latin, and big band.

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Yoseff Tucker

Faculty

Yoseff’s early life exposure to traditional bluegrass and American roots music came courtesy of his grandfather who moved to Central California from the Ozarks in the early 20th century. His first guitar came to him while he was still in diapers and an appreciation for music laid a great foundation in his life.

Niki Van Duren

HR Administrative Coordinator

Niki Van Duren (HR Administrative Coordinator) comes to us with much experience in leave programs, recruitment, HRIS systems, and administrative generalist duties. Most recently hailing from Portland, Niki has been in Port Townsend since early 2020. She is drawn to Centrum’s art programs, particularly the writer’s programs.

Photo of Sachal Vasandani

Sachal Vasandani

Faculty

Sachal Vasandani is recognized for his singular voice, with a tone and unique phrasing that mark him as one of the most compelling artists on the scene today.

Photo of Shawn Vestal

Shawn Vestal

Faculty

Shawn Vestal’s debut novel, Daredevils, was published in spring 2016 by Penguin Press. His collection of short stories, Godforsaken Idaho, published by New Harvest in April 2013, was named the winner of the PEN/​Robert W. Bingham Prize.

Hannah Viano

Faculty

Hannah Viano is an adventurous artist, educator, and mother living and creating in the Pacific Northwest. Her artwork is done in a variety of media, all starting from sketch studies in the field and then moving to the studio, using simple tools to create graphic images and capture the essential lines of a place or subject.…

Photo of Victoria Vox

Victoria Vox

Faculty

Victoria Davitt, better known as Victoria Vox, is an award-winning, ukulele-toting, performing songwriter. With a passion for writing songs since she was 10 years old, she went on to graduate with a degree in Songwriting from the Berklee College of Music (Boston, MA).

Lisa Waipio Werner

Director of Operations

Lisa Waipio Werner (Director of Operations) is alumni of the University of California at Irvine and has owned and managed a variety of successful businesses. In 2008, she came to Port Townsend from Kapa’au, Hawai’i to work as volunteer coordinator and residency program manager at Centrum. Raised in a family of musicians and ocean sports enthusiasts, her hobbies include playing flute and guitar and racing outrigger canoes.…

Photo of Jeremy Wakefield

Jeremy Wakefield

Faculty

Jeremy Wakefield is more like Speedy West fused with Jerry Byrd. And a little bit of Noel Boggs.” Those are the words used by Wayne Hancock to describe Jeremy Wakefield’s playing, and he isn’t far from the truth. Throw in a big dash of Joaquin Murphey and Jeremy’s own unique sensibilities and you’ve got one of the world’s best non-pedal steel guitarists.

Bud Walters

Production Crew

Photo of Ian B Walters

Ian B Walters

Faculty

Ian B. Walters plays spirited, updated blues and standards as well as contemporary tunes. Known for his unique piano sound, dripping with soul vocals, and all-around good vibes, Ian’s inventive interpretations of great old songs make them new again.

Photo of Daniel Ward

Daniel Ward

Faculty

Daniel Ward is an accomplished musician, composer and educator, who has become one of the country’s top clinicians and performers on the ‘ukulele circuit’. He is known for his command of Latin styles and teaches right hand techniques, adapting his style and knowledge from the classical and flamenco guitar.

Photo of Matt Weiner

Matt Weiner

Faculty

Big tone and solid rhythm have made Matt Weiner one of the busiest bass players in the Northwest. Inspired by the “prebop” bass players and their music, he’s slapping out a syncopated jazz feel on one tune, on another bowing a folksy melody.

Photo of Khari Wendell McClelland

Khari Wendell McClelland

Faculty

Khari Wendell McClelland is a diversely talented and ever-evolving artist. Originally from Detroit, Khari has become a darling on the Canadian music scene with reviewers lauding his performances as a clever mix of soul and gospel. Khari’s songwriting crosses genres and generations, joyfully invoking the spirit of his ancestors who straddled the US-Canadian border in efforts to escape slavery and discrimination.

Photo of Eli West

Eli West

Faculty

It’s always illuminating to ask an artist how they understand music, but Eli West’s perspective is nothing short of ground-breaking. A trained designer, he sees music architecturally, visualizing his compositions spatially. It’s a highly unusual way to think about music, tied to his verdant natural world of the Pacific Northwest.

Photo of Alasdair White

Alasdair White

Faculty

Alasdair White is an exceptional exponent of west coast Scottish music and is widely regarded as one of the foremost Scottish fiddler players of his generation. He was born and brought up on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands of singular importance to Gaelic Scotland’s musical heritage and is perhaps best known as having been a member of Scotland’s seminal Battlefield Band for over 16 years.

Lisbeth White

Residency & Artist Projects Program Assistant

Lisbeth is a writer and ritualist born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. With a background in creative writing and expressive arts therapy, she is dedicated to creating and supporting communities that uplift artists and cultural creators. She is the author of the poetry collection American Sycamore, and co-editor of the anthology Poetry as Spellcasting: Poems, Essays, and Prompts for Manifesting Liberation and Reclaiming Power.…

Michael White Hayes

Director of Production

Michael White Hayes (Director of Production) embodies the jack-of-all-trades archetype for the arts. Having graduated from NYU with a degree in filmmaking he’s gone on to work in that industry as a Cinematographer and Lighting Director to Sound Designer and Sound Mixer. He’s toured the world with New York Harlem Production’s official Gershwin production of the opera Porgy and Bess, won awards for Sound Design, composed music for television shows that have appeared on the Discovery Channel, and helped create several Youtube indie shows.…

Photo of Phil Wiggins

Phil Wiggins

Faculty

Phil Wiggins is a versatile traditional harmonica player, continuing the Piedmont blues tradition, a gentle and melodic blues style of the mid-Atlantic region. He plays the diatonic ten-hole harmonica in the country blues style, cupping both hands around the instrument and playing acoustically.

Photo of Jontavious Willis

Jontavious Willis

Artistic Director, Acoustic Blues

Blues musician and multi-instrumentalist, Jontavious Willis, from Georgia, has been named Centrum’s Artistic Director for Acoustic Blues beginning in 2020.

Photo of Reeb Willms

Reeb Willms

Faculty

Reeb Willms has been singing and playing guitar since 2001 and is widely regarded as one of the best rhythm guitar players in old time music. She hails from the windswept Central Washington farmlands of Douglas County, and was heavily influenced as a child by her musical father and uncles, who performed locally as the Willms Brothers. Her warm, tender vocals and driving rhythms are a living testament to this musical tradition, which she brought to the stage in her early 20s.

Photo of George Wilson

George Wilson

Faculty

George has performed and recorded with the popular “Fennig’s All-Star String Band”, featuring Bill Spence on hammered dulcimer, since 1975. He has performed and recorded with the “Whippersnappers” (Wilson, Peter Davis and Frank Orsini) since 1976.

Photo of Matt Wilson

Matt Wilson

Faculty

Grammy nominee Matt Wilson leads the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts and Crafts, Christmas Tree-O, and the Carl Sandburg Project.

Photo of Martin Wind

Martin Wind

Faculty

Bassist and composer Martin Wind was born in Flensburg, Germany in 1968 and has been living in the New York City area since 1996.He earned a diploma as Orchestra Musician at the Cologne Conservatory and completed his master’s degree in jazz composition and performance at NYU.

Carolyn Woods

Faculty

Carolyn Woods is the Education Coordinator at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. In her many different roles at the Marine Science Center she has led education programs on a variety of Salish Sea marine biology topics from plankton to sea birds, in addition to responding to the occasional stranded seal pup or diving deep into dissecting a beached gray whale.…

Photo of Linzay Young

Linzay Young

Faculty

Linzay is a versatile fiddler, soulful singer and a talented songwriter. A founding member of the notorious Red Stick Ramblers of Louisiana, he is a true link in the chain of Cajun Music and Culture whether he’s wielding a fiddle bow, playing his accordion or cooking in a blackpot.