The IASJ Board, also referred to as the IASJ Full Board, consists of seven representatives of schools of jazz, members of the IASJ. In the General Assembly, the yearly statutory meeting of representatives taking place during the annual IASJ Jazz Meeting, board members are elected to the board. A board member is elected for a period of five years. Board members can be re-elected.
Immediately after the General Assembly, the IASJ Full Board convenes to form the IASJ Daily Board: the chairman, secretary, and the treasurer. The Daily Board keeps regular contact with the Artistic Director and the Executive Director and sees to it that the decisions taken are being executed.
The IASJ strives to reflect its world-wide character in the representation of the board members. Representatives of schools of jazz, members of the IASJ, having participated in a number of IASJ Jazz Meetings and in good standing, who are willing to stand for election to the board, should notify the IASJ Service Bureau.
After the elections during the 2024 General Assembly Online, the board consisted of:
Keller Coker, chairman, USA
Dimos Dimitriadis, secretary, Greece
Felipe Salles, treasurer, USA
Abhisek Bhadra, member, Nepal
Massimo Cavalli, member, Portugal,
Damani Philips, member, USA
Martin Zenker, member, Germany
Mandukhai Tugstogtokh, ex-officio member, Mongolia
The board is assisted by:
David Liebman, Artistic Director
Edward Partyka, Executive Director for 1 January 2025 on for a 4-year period
Wouter Turkenburg, Service Bureau Coordinator. Executive Director, but stepping down on 1 January 2025
For information, please contact the IASJ Service Bureau:
Hi, I am Keller Coker from the New School in New York, USA. I was elected as a member of the board in July 2020.
I am a jazz trombone player, an arranger, and a conductor. Furthermore, I am the dean of the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, USA, where I teach several courses.
In 1995 and in 2022, The New School hosted the IASJ Jazz Meeting. In July 2024, I was elected as Chairman of the IASJ.
Hi, I am Dimos Dimitriadis from Greece. I am a saxophonist, educator, and composer. I founded the only existing Jazz Studies Program in Greece at the Ionian University on the beautiful island of Corfu 16 years ago. Since 2001 I have been involved with the IASJ along with our best students and teachers.
I have been trusted with the position of Treasurer of the organization and honored to be its Secretary since 2011. In 2010, I organized the second IASJ Jazz Education Conference in Corfu. Corfu is now the place for jazz education in Greece. Our students share the experience of the IASJ meetings, the creative and communal culture that comes with it and the worldview that all jazz musicians share.
This is what the IASJ is most valuable for: promulgating these values and culture among jazz students around the world.
Aside from concerts and recordings, I have been teaching seminars and lecturing in schools and universities around the world. I shared my methods and ideas about performing, improvisation, ensemble playing, advanced rhythmic concepts, the history of jazz and the changing face of jazz education.
Hi, I am Felipe Salles, a Brazilian jazz composer, conductor, and saxophonist, active in the US since 1995. I have been an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst since 2010. During the 2019 IASJ Jazz Meeting in Zagreb, Croatia, I was elected to the board of the IASJ as treasurer. I have been involved with the IASJ since 2007.
As a composer, I have owned a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Composition Fellowship, a 2015 NALAC Arts Grant, a 2009 French American Jazz Exchange Grant, and a 2005 CMA New Works. I have written for ensembles around the world, including The Metropole Orchestra, and the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra.
With seven critically acclaimed recordings, I currently lead both The Felipe Salles Group and Interconnections Ensemble, and work with several renowned jazz ensembles in the US
My info:
Dr. Felipe Salles
Associate Professor Jazz Studies, Saxophone, Jazz Composition and Arranging
University of Massachusetts Amherst
http://www.umass.edu/music
www.sallesjazz.com
www.felipesalles.com
Hi, I am Abhisek Bhadra, born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal.
I am the Academic Director at Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory (KJC) and Artistic Director of the Katjazz International Music Festival. I studied Composition/Arranging at Codarts, Conservatory of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. I participated in the IASJ meeting in 2023 and joined the board in 2024. Under my guidance, KJC has played a pivotal role in shaping jazz education in South Asia, pioneering the creation of a generation of South Asian jazz musicians studying worldwide. Active in Kathmandu’s jazz, popular, and contemporary music scenes, I aim to bring Nepali folk music to the global stage using the language of jazz.
My info:
Abhisek Bhadra
Academic Director, Kathmandu Jazz Conservatory
Artistic Director, Katjazz International Music Festival
https://www.katjazz.com
https://linktr.ee/katjazzfestival
Looking forward to working with you.
Best regards,
Abhisek Bhadra
massimo cavalliHi, I am Massimo Cavalli, I’m an Italian living in Portugal since 1996. I am an electric and double bass player, educator, and composer. I’m the head of the Jazz and Modern Music Department at Universidade Lusíada in Lisbon (Portugal). Furthermore, I participated in my first IASJ meeting in 2013, I was elected as a board member in 2022.
Most of my current projects involve fellow musicians who are part of the IASJ world, so I’m delighted to belong to this big jazz family.
Massimo Cavalli PhD-Bassist, educator and composer
Head of Jazz and Modern Music Department at Universidade Lusíada in Lisbon
email:
Website: www.massimocavalli.com
My name is Martin Zenker.
I am an upright bass player, born and raised in Munich, Germany. After freelancing and touring worldwide for about almost 20 years. I discovered my passion for education, when I started teaching in South Korea. Currently, I divide my time between Asia and Europe, working mostly for the Universities in Munich, Germany, Klagenfurt in Austria and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. Besides teaching music, I am also involved or responsible for several exchange programs. The IASJ is the perfect environment for connecting the jazz world, and I am proud to be part of it.
Hi, I am Damani Philips from the United States.
I currently serve as Professor of Jazz / African American Studies and head of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Iowa. I earned Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from DePaul University and The University of Kentucky in classical saxophone, a second Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Wayne State University and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Jazz Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I was the first African American in the country to do so.
I’m an active performer, pedagogue, and lecturer who has performed, taught and presented my work throughout the world. I’ve had the honor of recording and/or performing with artists/groups such as Lewis Nash, Christian McBride, Wycliffe Gordon, Bobby McFerrin, Marcus Belgrave, Terell Stafford, Hank Jones, Red Holloway and Pat Bianchi among many others. Though recording and performing is my primary focus,
I’m also an active academic scholar with scholarly presentations at colleges, universities, professional/civic conferences, and scholarly forums (both domestically and abroad) to my credit. I published my book “What is This Thing Called Soul: Conversations on Jazz and Black Culture” in 2017, which delves into the difficult, yet timely, topic of the decline of Black cultural influence and representation in jazz as traditionally taught in academic spheres.
Hi, my name is Mandukhai Tugstogtokh, and I am from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
I have been active in supporting jazz and jazz education since 2016 when I founded the JazzLab NGO. I am proud and honored to be part of the IASJ family and will do my best to spread the work of this organization worldwide and particularly in Asia.