2024 Artists: Session I
Kelley Gant
A charismatic member of the dynamic Kansas City jazz community, composer, songwriter, and vocalist Kelley Gant was selected a 2023 artist of the internationally acclaimed “Riff Generation” program of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. She has produced numerous performance opportunities for emerging talent through the Charlotte Street Foundation’s “Spine Showcase” and was headliner for their multi-media ProdoLab series. Gant will spend her residency writing ensemble material for her second album. Her versatility and unique style will be showcased at The REP Theatre on January 26th at 7:30 pm in a performance of beloved jazz standards and original songs accompanied by local musicians Cam Ray on piano and Steve Gilbert on bass. Gant offers an engaging improvisation workshop for children 10 years and older.
Gregory Mackender
Composer for theatre and film, pioneer sound designer, and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Mackender has been resident composer for the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival for almost three decades. He is professor of the Sound Design Department of Theatre, UMKC Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas and is instructor at the Film Dept. at Kansas City Art Institute, Audio for Film and Video. While in Seaside, Mackender will compose music for the festival’s June 2024 production of Julius Caesar and select works from over 300 original compositions for CD publication. Mackender will contribute a multi-media presentation of recorded and live music and film. He will speak to middle school classes about the role of music in theatre and film.
Glenn North
Glenn North is an awarded poet, arts educator and administrator, and cultural leader in Kansas City, MO. North is Poet Laureate of the Historic 18th & Vine Jazz District and is the Director of Inclusive Learning & Creative Impact and Poet-in-Residence at the Kansas City Museum. He is co-founder of the African American Artists Collective. North hopes to complete “Poetry for Public Consumption”, a retrospective collection of his poems written over the past 25 years. He is featured presenter in a special reception, reading and writing workshop co-hosted with the Seaside Institute and Emerald Coast Storytellers on January 11th, 5pm - 9pm at the Seaside Town Meeting Hall on Quincy Circle.
Joshua A. Thompson
Joshua A. Thompson is a classical pianist, music sociologist, and teaching artist based in Indianapolis. A Classical Music Indy Artist and Creative Partner-in-Residence with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Thompson is a nationally recognized expert on classical composers of African descent. His awarded podcast, “Melanated Moments in Classical Music,” co-hosted with the acclaimed soprano Angela Brown, has garnered an international audience. Thompson’s “Re-Center” is a multi-cultural music education and health project, merging meditative practices and the traditional chakra energy system with the historic canon of classical music by composers of African descent. Thompson will perform in concert of celebrated African American composers at The REP Theatre on January 19th, 7:30pm, in whose contributions define the unique sound of American classical music.