Board of Directors

Dave Birdwhistell

President

Dave graduated from Georgetown College, taught/coached junior high basketball, before retiring from IBM after almost 35 years. He doesn’t play an instrument, other than taking piano lessons when he was young. He enjoys listening to music, especially Jazz (Rippingtons), Blues (Stevie Ray Vaughn) and 60-70s rock (Beatles/Eagles), favorites in parentheses. Dave was introduced to Jazz and the Jazz Arts Foundation by his dear friend and co-founder of JAF, Ron Allen. He loves photography, especially shooting nature and wildlife. Dave takes photographs of the JAF concerts for our website. Dave and his wife enjoy traveling.

Teresa Tope

Vice President

Teresa is a retired college administrator from Bluegrass Community and Technical College. She is co-founder of the Lexington Jazz Festival and the founder of Jazz on the Porch at Talon Winery. She currently is a board member of the Richmond Area Arts Council and past board chair. Over the years she has had the opportunity to experience the musical instruments of oboe, clarinet, piano, guitar, and percussion. As an undergraduate student, she was a scholarship recipient in musical theatre performance. An accomplished vocalist, Teresa has performed in many musical productions in Kentucky and Ohio, and she has recorded a CD.

In addition to her performing arts interests, she is a published author and an award winning photographer.

Terry Buckner

Secretary

Terry is the Director of Libraries at Bluegrass Community and Technical College and has been with the college for almost 20 years. In that time, she has served in a variety of positions and has been very involved with the arts at the college and in the community including Jazz initiatives. She has also served in several roles as a librarian, including as President of the Kentucky Library Association and President of the Kentucky Chapter of the Special Libraries Association. Terry is married and loves spending time on the water. The beach and Kentucky lakes are among her favorite places to be.

Ponice Cruse

Treasurer

Ponice is an Accountant and loan signing agent for over 30 years working for herself with Cruse Accounting & Tax Services as well as Cruse Notary Service LLC. She graduated from Lexington Community College and Kentucky State University in Accounting and received her MBA at Sullivan University. She is also an accidental real estate investor. She is a lifelong learner and strives to learn something new every day she wakes up. Her primary hobbies are genealogy, photography, traveling and listening to music. She is the mother of three amazing children and two bonus children. She is also grandmother to eight bundles of love and a great grandmother to one bundle of joy. She is from a long line of gospel ministers and singers and she can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but gave birth to a Professional Jazz Artist – Michael Cruse who sings plays multiple instruments all across the country as well as teaches Jazz at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She was introduced to jazz by Michael and her great uncle-in-law Charles Quillings- and has since grown to love and appreciate the sound and history of jazz music.

James Poole III

Director

My family and I evacuated from New Orleans to Lexington during Hurricane Katrina. After living here eight months along with all the issues involving the restoration of our property in New Orleans, my wife and I decided it would be prudent to stay and here we are. I was born in New Orleans. I am the eldest son of four children born to James Millard Poole Jr. and Victoria Helen Sanders. My dad was my greatest influence in deciding to play trumpet and gravitating towards music in general as my personal expression of my humanity and here I am still doing it today. I started playing the trumpet in the fourth grade with no lessons because they were expensive. My dad gave me my first trumpet in 1972. I earned a Master's of music degree in trumpet performance from the University of New Orleans 1996-98 and my Bachelor's degree from Xavier University in Louisiana. Along with primarily being a trumpeter and founder of my quartet, Paladin, that performs locally here in Kentucky, I am a music educator as well. I've taught music on the elementary school level to post secondary at Bluegrass Community And Technical College, 2012-2014.

Katherine Rhodus

Director

Katherine Rhodus is a lifelong Kentucky resident and supporter of the arts. Born in Richmond, KY, she is an avid community leader and supporter of her hometown. She currently is serving as board chair of the Richmond Area Arts Council where she organizes support for the performing arts with the events that they host. She attended Eastern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky but now Katherine is retired from a 40-year career in the construction industry. Katherine is a mother of 5 children and has supported their journey in the arts from a young age, where they have excelled in music, theatre and dance. She is an avid philanthropist and enjoys participating in community service. Katherine is excited to be serving on the Jazz Arts Foundation board particularly because she likes Jazz, and it is important to her to preserve and foster Jazz culture in Kentucky.

Bobbie Newman

Director

Bobbie Newman grew up in Pittsburgh (PA) listening to her father’s jazz records; they wore out the grooves on Dave Brubeck’s Time Out album, among others. Teen years found her taking the trolley downtown and sneaking into Walt Harper’s Attic, where she heard jazz greats like Wynton Marsalis, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Dave Brubeck, Max Roach, Nancy Wilson, Mel Tormé, and Walt Harper himself. Bobbie immersed herself in music ever since, a former voice major singing in rock bands, combos, and choirs, and enjoying performances from classical and jazz to rock and blues. Retired after fifty years of writing, design, and IT project management, Bobbie is the editor of UnderMain, an online arts magazine, and a fervent supporter of performing, visual, and literary arts, as well as their related non-profit organizations in the region. Bobbie is honored and privileged to be associated with the Jazz Arts Foundation.

Sheila Simpson

Webmaster

Sheila is a graduate of Morehead State University and University of Kentucky. She has a Master’s degree in Art Education. For 25 years she had a rewarding career in higher education, eventually retiring from Bluegrass Community and Technical College. Committed to community service, she also serves on the board of the Black and Williams Neighborhood Center in Lexington. Sheila’s first real encounter with Jazz music was during a visit to New Orleans. It made a lasting impression. Her favorite thing to do in the summer is attend Jazz on the Porch concerts at Talon Winery and share a picnic with friends. As an artist, she enjoys teaching painting workshops and giving private lessons in drawing and painting.