BIOGRAPHIES
Mark
Baszak (Such
Sweet Thunder
Editor and Contributing Author, and Assistant Director of the Black Musicians
Conference and Festival from 1994 - 1999)
Received his BA in Music
and his M.Ed. with a concentration in creativity and human development from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1983 and 1993. He began his administrative career at the Fine Arts Center
as director of the Performing Arts Division in 1987, a community school for the
arts offering instruction in music, theater and dance. Baszak was then appointed five college
educational programs director and became the administrative director of Jazz in
July Summer Music Programs. After
receiving his Masters Degree, he was promoted to Associate Director of
Multicultural Programs for the Fine Arts Center, where he also edited the
Department’s newsletter Diversity and coordinated Black Musicians Conference
and Festival activities among other responsibilities.
Baszak also became an arts
journalist and established his freelance writing career in 1993. His reviews and feature stories have
appeared in the Union News/Sunday Republican, the Town Recorder,
Jewish Weekly News;
Women UnLimited
Magazine; and BusinessWest Magazine. He currently is a resident of Holyoke,
Massachusetts.
Edward Cohen (Such Sweet Thunder Photographer, and
recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Achievement Award)
Received his
Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication Studies with a concentration in
Afro-American studies and multicultural education from the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst in 1976. He
studied photography through courses at the Five Colleges, and although he
enjoys all types of photography, he is particularly drawn to photography of
performers in dance, theater and music.
Cohen has an affinity for
jazz, blues and gospel music, and has been photographing musicians for over
twenty years. He has also promoted
jazz on his current radio program for WTCC 90.7 in Springfield, Massachusetts
and formerly for WMUA 91.1 in Amherst.
Cohen combines his love for music and photography by photographing musicians who play jazz, blues and gospel, and tries to pay tribute to them by displaying their images in a positive setting. He has been photographing participants of the Black Musicians Conference since 1980, and through his work, he attempts to capture the energy and feelings that the artist experiences while performing or even when talking about their music. Cohen feels that his photographs will provide a lasting visual legacy to Black musicians and the music that has made an impact on his life. He currently is a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts.
Horace
Clarence Boyer (Black
Musicians Conference and Festival Artistic Director from 1991 – 1999,
Panel Moderator from 1996 – 1998, Such Sweet Thunder Contributing Author, and
recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Achievement Award)
Professor Emeritus of Music
Theory and African American Music at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
where he taught for 26 years, Dr. Boyer has a long and distinguished musical
career. He served as guest curator
of musical history at the Smithsonian Institution in 1985-86, and was the
Distinguished Scholar-at-Large at Fisk University in 1986-87, where he
conducted the famed Fisk Jubilee Singers.
Boyer served as advisor on
gospel music to the New Grove Dictionary of American Music, edited the 1993 edition
of the African American hymnal, Lift Every Voice and Sing II, and authored the very
popular How Sweet The Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel.
As a scholar, Boyer has
appeared in numerous television documentaries on gospel music and has lectured
across the United States. As a
singer, he has performed throughout his life as a soloist and with his brother
James as a member of The Boyer Brothers.
He has recorded on Savoy and Nashboro labels, and has appeared in over
500 concerts, festivals and television performances, and with such gospel
luminaries as Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward, Alex Bradford, James Cleveland, and
Dorothy Love Coates. He currently
is a resident of Amherst, Massachusetts.
Frederick C. Tillis (Fine
Arts Center Director from 1976 – 1999, Black Musicians Conference [1998:
A Great Day In Harlem: A Tribute To Dr. Frederick C. Tillis] Distinguished
Achievement Award Recipient, Black Musicians Conference Panel Discussion
Moderator from 1989 – 1995, and Such Sweet Thunder Contributing Author)
Dr. Tillis is a renowned
artist, educator, administrator and poet, and is a lifetime member of the
International Association of Jazz Educators, an organization that honored him
with an award for outstanding service.
He is a Danforth Associate, and is currently Director Emeritus of the
University of Massachusetts Fine Arts Center after 23 years as Director. For the University, Dr. Tillis has
served as Associate Chancellor, Professor of Music Composition, and Director of
the African American Music and Jazz program. He earned his Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University
of Iowa, and has written more than 120 pieces in various media, including
orchestral, jazz instrumental, choral, chamber music, and vocal works. His compositions explore a variety of
musical contexts from throughout the world including African, African American,
and classical European traditions.
The
works of Frederick Tillis have been performed internationally and in the United
States. Such pieces include A
Festival Journey (1992),
and Ring Shout Concerto (1974) for percussion, written for and performed by Max Roach
and symphony orchestra; and Concerto for Piano (Jazz Trio) and Symphony
Orchestra
(1983) written for and performed by Billy Taylor. He has produced seven books of poetry and a text, Jazz
Theory and Improvisation. In addition, Dr.
Tillis is an accomplished instrumentalist offering a distinct and personal
interpretation of the soprano and tenor saxophones. He currently is a resident of Amherst, Massachusetts.
For
Press Interviews/
Contact
Information:
Mark
Baszak
(413.533.6568 or 413.545.3530)
Horace
Clarence Boyer
(413.549.5454)
Edward
Cohen
(413.746.9697)
Frederick
Tillis
(413.549.6939)