Board of Directors
Russ Berlin
Musical Director, Lee’s Summit Symphony Orchestra
Retired music educator, Lee’s Summit R-7 Schools
Carol Comer
Jazz vocalist, pianist, educator and journalist
Co-founder, Women’s Jazz Festival (Kansas City)
Tom Fredrick
Attorney, jazz journalist (JAM, Kansas City Star)
Faculty, University of Kansas School of Business
Dianne Gregg
Retired Senior Arts Partners Coordinator, Kansas City Young Audiences
Co-founder, Women’s Jazz Festival (Kansas City)
Keith Kavanaugh
Graphic designer, Web designer, BauWau Design
Jazz drummer
Mike Metheny
Trumpeter, recording artist, journalist and educator
LSHS Class of 1967
Pat Metheny
Grammy winning guitarist, bandleader and recording artist
LSHS Class of 1972
David Sholemson
Senior Vice President and Director of Management
Ted Kurland Associates, Boston, MA
Paul Smith
Jazz pianist and recording artist, Kansas City, MO
Retired music educator, Raytown and Kearney (MO) Schools
Legal Counsel:
Nancy Blackwell
Chinnery Evans & Nail
Lee’s Summit, MO
Board of Advisors
Tom Alexios
Outreach Education Projects, Duke Ellington Legacy
Steve Arbo
Deputy City Administrator, Lee’s Summit (ex-officio)
Roger Atkinson
Former Editor, Jazz Ambassador Magazine, Kansas City, MO
Gary Burton
Retired dean, Berklee College of Music, Boston, MA
Ted Kurland
Ted Kurland Associates, Boston, MA
Jim Mair
Saxophonist, educator, former Director, Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
Marilyn Maye
Vocalist, bandleader, recording artist
Ida McBeth
Vocalist, bandleader, recording artist
Gary Sivils
1934-2021
School band instrument sales, bandleader, cornetist
Doug Tatum
Former Executive Director, Folly Theater, Kansas City, MO
Bobby Watson
Saxophonist & former director of Jazz Studies, University of Missouri/Kansas City
Mike White
Attorney, saxophonist, former Jackson County (MO) Executive