MUSICWORKS founder and director Jesse Neuman studied trumpet with Laurie Frink, and has been an active member of New York City’s creative music scene for the past 15 years. In that time he has worked with a diverse collection of regular ensembles, performing electro/acoustic progressive jazz, Hindustani electronica, funk-soul, southern indie-rock, and devotional Sufi music as a co-leader of the Brooklyn Qawwali Party. As a sound designer he has composed for and performed with dance choreographers, filmmakers, live theater, and poetry. As a sideman, Mr. Neuman has arranged for and played in horn sections with Josh Ritter, Escort, and Matisyahu, and performed at Lincoln Center, Birdland, the Blue Note, and live on NPR. His ensemble, Wolf Face, released “The World Has Time to Bloom”. Mr. Neuman holds a B.A. in music, an M.A. in education, is a three time National Endowment for the Humanities scholar, and is currently the Diversity Equity and Inclusion artist in residence at Princeton Academy. As an educator, Mr. Neuman has worked with almost every population ages 3 to 93, including head-start nursery, children with special needs, at-risk teens, senior citizens with dementia, adults recovering from substance abuse, and students in Ecuador, Cuba, and Cambodia. Since 2001 he has developed the MUSICWORKS program to bring multidisciplinary arts experiences to students of all ages and ability levels.
