Faculty

Centrum Faculty

This skilled creative collective could wrap their arms around the globe. Much respect, big hugs.

Photo of Jim White

Jim White

Faculty

Drums

Drummer Jim White is an active performer and educator. His first musical experiences took place in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where he studied percussion with Paul Yancinch, Mike Cebulski, Sonny Emory, and Jeff Sipe. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Jazz Studies/Composition from Middle Tennessee State University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas.

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.…

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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.

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Buster Williams

Faculty

Bass

Buster Williams is a prodigious artist whose playing knows no limits. He has played, recorded and collaborated with jazz giants such as Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Lee Konitz, McCoy Tyner, Illinois Jacquet, Nancy Wilson, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Ron Carter, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Golson, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Rowles, Hampton Hawes, Cedar Walton, Bobby Hutcherson, Billy Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Errol Garner, Kenny Barron, Charlie Rouse, Dakota Staton, Kenny Dorham, and Freddie Hubbard, to name a few.…

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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

Drums

Grammy nominee Matt Wilson leads the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts and Crafts, Christmas Tree-O, and the Carl Sandburg Project. He is an integral part of bands led by Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Bob Stewart, Denny Zeitlin, Ron Miles, Marty Ehrlich, Ted Nash, Jane Ira Bloom, and Dena DeRose among others.…

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.

Photo of Peter Winograd

Peter Winograd

Violin, American String Quartet

Peter Winograd (violin) joined the American String Quartet in 1990. He gave his first solo public per­for­mance at the age of 11, and at age 17 he was accepted as a scholar­ship student of Dorothy DeLay at The Juilliard School. Re­cog­nized early as an ex­cep­tion­ally prom­is­ing young artist, Winograd was a top prize winner in the 1988 Naumburg Inter­na­tional Violin Competition.…