Dr. Geoff Roach, Executive Director
Geoff is a native of New Orleans where he first became addicted to great music, spicy foods, good times. Before joining San Jose Jazz in October 2005, Geoff spent 30 years as an entrepreneur in the technology industry in the United States and Europe with management positions at Cullinet, DEC, Informix, Pure Software and other companies . In music, Geoff leads and plays woodwinds in the critically acclaimed octet, Octobop. Geoff has performed with Mel Torme, Nelson Riddle, Tom Jones, Bob Hope, as well as many musicals, shows, and other productions. His primary influences in playing and writing include Gerry Mulligan, James Moody, Sam Butera, Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Nelson Riddle, and Henry Mancini. Geoff has a BS from University of Louisiana, an MS from Clemson University, an MBA from the University of Missouri, and is a graduate of the Stanford Business School Executive Program and a doctor degree of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. He is still trying to create the perfect gumbo. Harley Christensen, Development Director
Raised in a rough and tumble Midwestern industrial town located on the shores of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago, Harley developed an appreciation of music by listening to Midwestern radio stations that featured big band, cow jazz, and, later, R & B. When he got to college the blues was emerging as a musical force and he found himself drawn to such artists as Paul Butterfield, B.B. King, and Muddy Waters. Later, he migrated to jazz where he found the groove of iconic jazzman like Brubeck, Hancock, and Mulligan. Harley strongly supports the National Arts Education Public Awareness Campaign when it states that, “The arts are much more than just fun "extra" activities for kids. Participation in the arts opens up children's worlds and minds and offers them the skills they need for a bright future.” Harley comes to San Jose Jazz from the Independent Adoption Center in Pleasanton, CA where he was the National Marketing & Development Director. Prior to that he was the Associate Executive Director and Director of Communications & Development at the Institute of Computer Technology in Sunnyvale, CA. Harley earned his MFA in film and television producing at UCLA. Barbara Christmann GetJazzed Program Manager
Barbara is a composer, conductor, and orchestrator with an M.A. in Music Composition from San Jose State University and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of California-Berkeley. Her orchestrating/composing work includes a project to create film source music that was recorded with Grammy Award winning musicians and the “Skywalker Orchestra.” Other composing credits include CD and performance projects with members of the Seattle Symphony, San Jose Symphony, Tower of Power, the Carlos Santana Band, Opera San Jose, and the San Jose Chamber Orchestra. She has also composed numerous commercial projects for Fisher Price and Mattel. She has conducted countless choral and orchestral works as a freelance conductor in both live performance and recording studio settings. She has served as a faculty member at the School of Music and Dance at San Jose State University, as well as staff orchestrator for Opera San Jose. Madelyn Crawford, Membership Manager
Madelyn Crawford is a proud, involved member of San Jose Jazz! For over two decades, I have been privileged to work as an advocate and activist for arts audiences in Silicon Valley. Working at Abhinaya Dance Company, San Jose Museum of Art, the Los Altos History Museum, and the Arts and Museum Program for the Town of Los Gatos are experiences I use at San Jose Jazz everyday. I am a proud alumna of the Master’s in Art History Program at San Jose State University. Our San Jose Jazz members and donors are fun, well educated, stimulating jazz fans—and many of them volunteer on projects to expand our educational and performance services. I learn from our members all the time. Please join us! Gary Duyanen, Graphic Designer
A few months after graduating from San Jose State University in 2003, Gary was hired by the San Jose Jazz on a temporary basis to make simple website edits. Little did he know that a couple weeks later, he was redesigning the website, creating quarterly newsletters, and designing all the marketing collateral. Since then, Gary has art directed the San Jose Jazz Festival program and has designed the image for the 2007 Jazz Festival. As a Sr. Designer for NBN Sports Inc., Gary has designed for clients such as Lockheed Martin, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, small businesses and countless high schools in the region. San Jose Jazz can hold claim as being one of the biggest influences for Gary’s development as a designer. Bruce Labadie, Festival Director
Bruce Labadie has over 30 years of experience in Performing Arts Management and festival production. He directed all programs at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga for 18 years, was performing arts director at Montalvo for 12 years, has been director of many festivals in San Jose, including Brew Ha Ha, the San Jose America Festival and has been a founder and the Festival Director of the Comcast San Jose Jazz Festival since 1980. Sheri Macdonald, Business Development Director
Sheri is a proud, Silicon Valley native and Santa Clara University Graduate. She developed an appreciation for music, education, and community service at a very early age. As a decorated scholar- athlete and self-taught pianist, she devoted her time to a multitude of worthy causes who were committed to providing educational, legal, and health and human services for the economically disadvantaged, academically at-risk, and the ill. After graduation from college, she traveled the world, and worked as a marketing manager and technical writer. However, she returned back to her true passion and continued her focus in the non-profit sector. She then consulted with numerous Silicon Valley non-profit organizations to substantially increase revenue generated from grants and foundations, gala events, and individual and corporate donors. “There are those who inspire and those who create. Those who make a difference, everywhere and everyplace.” That is my philosophy and the embodiment of San Jose Jazz. Lucie Paye, Marketing Director
Before joining the San Jose Jazz team, Lucie spent five years as the Communications and Marketing Director of the International Festival of Gardens in France—the #1 garden design competition in the world. Moving to Silicon Valley, she looked for an arts organization that had the spirit of innovation one associates with this region, that epitomizes this unique place and serves the community. She found these elements with San Jose Jazz—a lively, wide-ranging arts organization, a dynamic and entrepreneurial team, and above all, America ’s extraordinary gift to world culture: jazz!
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