The contract of Terri Pontremoli, executive and artistic director of the Detroit
Jazz Festival, will not be renewed, according to an article in yesterday’s Detroit Free Press. In the piece, jointly written by Steve Byrne and Mark Stryker, it was reported that Tom Robinson, president of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation board of directors, had chosen not to renew the Pontremoli’s contract. She had led the jazz festival since 2007 and been part of the event’s management team since 2005.
According to the authors, “Pontremoli has been credited with raising the national artistic stature of the festival and broadening its reach into the local community. The Labor Day weekend event is the largest free-of-charge jazz festival in North America.”
No replacement has been hired as of yet. Robinson told the newspaper that the event would move forward but there was not a specific time frame to replace Pontremoili, who did not provide a comment to the newspaper.
According to the authors, “In a released statement, Robinson said Pontremoli ‘has been a wonderful asset to the organization and festival. We give thanks to her dedication in elevating our festival’ into a year-round presenting organization.”
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