Detroit Jazz Fest Changes
hris Collins will be the new Artistic Director of the Detroit Jazz Festival. He replaces Terri Pontremoli, whose contract was not renewed by the board of directors in late October. Pontremoli had received rave reviews from local jazz fans (including the SEMJA UPDATE) for her programming of the festival since 2007 and the reasons for her departure are not known.
Collins is a well-known figure on the Detroit jazz scene as a tenorist and educator. He is the director of jazz studies at Wayne State University, where he started as a student thirty years ago. For the last four years he has been a central figure in collaborations between Wayne's jazz program and the festival. He is also a ferocious modern tenor player who has performed with his own and other groups across the world and has seven CDs to his credit. We wish him good luck as he takes on an important job in the Detroit jazz community.
