2025 faculty

SAXOPHONE — Hailed as a "Sax Phenom" by the New York Daily News, Chad LB is a featured artist on 2 GRAMMY winning albums, and has toured through 6 continents playing venues from Carnegie Hall to the Super Bowl.

As a bandleader, he’s headlined jazz venues and festivals around the world, and as a soloist he’s joined acts like Chris Botti, Arturo Sandoval, and Christian McBride.

No stranger to the big screen, Chad has been featured on numerous TV shows with pop icons like Taylor Swift, rock legends like Don Henley, as well as the Hollywood film, “Here Today” with Billy Crystal and Tiffany Haddish.

BASS — A cultural bridge between the architects of jazz music and the future generation, Rodney Whitaker is an internationally renowned bassist and educator.

He has been lauded for building one of the leading jazz degree programs in the world at Michigan State University.

Whitaker has toured the world over the last twenty-five years, collaborating and performing with a seemingly endless list of legendary jazz artists such as Jimmy Heath, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Henderson, Eric Reed, Hank Jones, Betty Carter, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Golson, Pat Metheny, and Nicholas Payton.

SAXOPHONE — Eric Marienthal is a 10x GRAMMY-nominated and 2x GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist with over 15 solo albums and hundreds of studio recordings, including film and television.

Marienthal is famously a member of the Chick Corea Elektric Band, recording six albums and winning two GRAMMY awards while touring the globe.

His performance credits range from jazz to pop icons including Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, Bob Mintzer’s Yellowjackets, Michael McDonald and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, where he has remained a long time member.

VOICE — Credited by the New York Times for her “strong, lustrous tone and an amiably regal presence”, Alicia Olatuja is a vocalist, composer, and educator.

Olatuja has led an impressive career, having performed with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. A masters graduate from the Manhattan School of Music, Olatuja is a crossover artist between jazz, R&B, soul and classical styles.

Championed by GRAMMY winner Dianne Reeves, Olatuja has collaborated with acclaimed artists including Christian McBride, Chaka Khan, Chris Botti, Carnegie Hall's NYO Jazz Orchestra, and Ulysses Owens Jr.

DRUMS — Celebrated and multi-faceted, Clarence Penn is a jazz drummer, composer, producer and educator.

Established in the New York scene since 1991, Penn has worked with an extensive list of renowned musicians including Ellis Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Betty Carter, and Michael Brecker.

Penn has produced tracks in pop and alternative genres, and has composed music for films/commercials.

As an educator, Penn has taught at revered institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Intensive Jazz Institute.

TRUMPET — A commanding force in the jazz and commercial field, Summer Camargo is a trumpeter and educator based in New York City.

Already having performed with artists like Jon Batiste and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Camargo has performed at renowned venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, the Newport Jazz Festival, The Kennedy Center, and on Broadway's “Aladdin”.

Since 2022, Camargo has been a member of the “Saturday Night Live” house band and is a signed recording artist with Blue Engine Records.

GUITAR — Amassing an impressive audience of nearly 80K followers across platforms, Cecil Alexander is a guitarist, composer, arranger, and educator.

One of three finalists in the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition, Alexander has performed or recorded with artists including Bill Charlap, Antonio Hart, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), Luis Perdomo, and GJW alumni Chad LB and Lee Pearson.

Originally from Muskegon, Cecil is an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music beginning in Fall 2021, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree.

TROMBONE — Praised by Downbeat Magazine as “irrepressibly spontaneous”, Mariel Bildsten is a jazz trombonist based in New York City.

Mariel has earned global distinction through her performances with Jon Batiste, Roy Hargrove, Jennifer Hudson, Dee Dee Bridgewater, John Clayton, Herlin Riley, Dick Oatts, and the Mingus Big Band at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Newport Jazz Festival and the Apollo Theater.

Bildsten’s band has performed internationally to sold out crowds at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the New York Philharmonic, the Montréal Jazz Festival, the Perth International Jazz Festival, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

PIANO — Praised by the legendary David Foster who could “listen to [him] all day, every day”, Holger Marjamaa is an accomplished jazz and classical pianist originally from Tallinn, Estonia.

Marjamaa has amassed an impressive list of collaborators including touring internationally with Chris Botti, Lizz Wright, John Riley, Chad LB, Take 6, Ben Wolfe, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.

A semi-finalist in the Thelonius Monk Jazz Piano Competition, Holger has toured on international stages across the United States, Europe, and Asia including the Seoul Jazz Festival, Blue Note (Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Shanghai, Hawaii), and the Monterey Jazz Festival.

SAXOPHONE — Most well-known for his YouTube persona "Saxologic", Nathan Graybeal is a saxophonist and educator from North Carolina. Originally an avid drawer then animator, he has transferred his love for art to saxophone.

Nathan obtained a bachelor’s degree in both jazz and classical saxophone performance from East Carolina University and a master’s degree in studio jazz performance from the University of Miami.

He currently earns a living through YouTube Adsense by acquiring an average range of 200,000 - 600,000 views to his channel every month, affiliate marketing with his numerous saxophone endorsers/sponsors, and selling digital pedagogical eBooks which have amassed over 2,500 sales worldwide.

VOICE — An emerging polymath in the music industry, Christian Wiggs is a vocalist, bandleader, lyricist, producer, director, artist manager, educator, record label executive, television show host and founder of Bandstand Presents.

Born to a choreographer, Wiggs’ immersion into theatre and the jazz tradition has led to a remarkable career as an artist, performing on prolific stages such as Birdland, Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club and SXSW.

Reaching millions of viewers with his PBS television show Jazz Tonight, Wiggs manages GRAMMY and Tony Award-winner Bryan Carter, Chad LB, Emmet Cohen, and serves as the musical/band manager for global icon Jeff Goldblum.