The Music Is First! Advisory Board

Jessica Felix, Jazz Program Director

Jessica Felix has contributed a great deal to the world of jazz with the successful and thriving Healdsburg Jazz Festival which she founded in 1999 and was artistic direction until her retirement in 2020. Her dream of helping to create a jazz festival in Healdsburg became a reality in June of 1999, with the success of the first annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival, which featured Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins and Bobby Hutcherson. HERE is a list of her 20-year programming history.

Lorca Hart

Lorca Hart’s vision is to provide deepening creative musical experiences for himself and others. His career as both a performer and a teacher has been dedicated to the craft of drumming, Jazz tradition and history, and ensemble collaboration. He is currently on faculty at the Drew School of San Francisco (jazz/music dept.) Lorca continues to be inspired by music education now as a faculty member for numerous musical education venues including Stanford Jazz Workshop, Mt. San Antonio College, SF Jazz and many other musical clinics and workshops. Additionally, Lorca teaches privately at his drum studio.

Zareen

Zareen is a professional vocalist specializing in Jazz, Latin, folk and a cappella music. For many years Zareen was an elementary classroom teacher in San Francisco, and incorporated music into daily instruction. She has performed at venues all over the San Francisco Bay Area, including Yoshi’s, Yerba Buena Gardens, Pacifica Fogfest, Freight & Salvage, Rasselas and many more. Zareen has several studio recordings, including a children’s album called “Fly with the Fireflies” with singer-songwriter, Kelly Vogel. w ww.zareen.com