Northampton Jazz Festival Welcomes Two New Board Members
Talented individuals bring experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, community organizing and music
NORTHAMPTON—The Northampton Jazz Festival has welcomed two new board members who bring broad skills and deep experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, community organizing and music from world cultures.
“I am thrilled to add these two dynamic and energetic individuals to the Northampton Jazz Festival Board of Directors. In a very short time, they have both contributed much to the organization,” said Ruth Griggs, president of the board.
The new members are Ricard Torres-Mateluna, who joined last month, and Jillian Duclos, who came on the board in September 2023. “Their ideas are fresh, realistic and are helping us expand the depth and scope of our offerings this September, like adding children’s programming, more jazz events in September and bringing musicians of world cultures to the stage,” said Griggs.
Duclos, a resident of Easthampton, is a mom first and community builder at heart. After earning a bachelor’s degree in politics at Mount Holyoke College as a Francis Perkins Scholar, class of 2017, she became a grass-roots organizer, a driver of work-force development and then a business owner. Now, as executive director of the Downtown Northampton Association, she facilitates collaboration with city leaders, downtown organizations and community members to drive economic development for downtown Northampton and to provide a much-needed safety net to local and small businesses who anchor the community. On the Northampton Jazz Festival board, Duclos looks forward to using her experience to explore the best ways all can work together to make Northampton thrive.
Torres-Mateluna, of Belchertown, is a communicator and brand and marketing strategist who thinks with a global perspective and seeks solutions at the local level. Over his more than 20 years in the field, he has successfully worked toward uplifting educational entities and nonprofit organizations, having worked in advertising agencies and startups—large and small, at home and abroad—run by people from all backgrounds.
Torres-Mateluna’s current role is vice president of marketing and communications for the Springfield- based human services agency Viability, Inc. He has been a jazz lover since childhood and is also a member of the editorial board and U.S. correspondent for Papeles de Jazz Magazine in his native Chile. He holds a double bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from the Universidad ARCIS, Chile, and a master’s degree in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. As a first-generation college student and immigrant, he understands intimately the challenges “first” groups face and uses that empathy and perspective to create solutions that effectively incorporate everyone. “The only way a brand, a campaign or a strategy can be successful is by truly connecting with people,” he stated.
The Northampton Jazz Festival, founded in 2011, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The 2024 festival will stage seven or eight live jazz concerts on Friday, Sept. 27, and offer 10 or 11 performances on Saturday, Sept. 28 throughout downtown Northampton. Other events include Jazz Film Night at Northampton Center for the Arts on June 20, Jazzy Arts Night Out on Sept.13, and an outdoor lawn concert at the Forbes Library in early September. More information can be found at northamptonjazzfest.org.
