Brian Mital and Geeda Searfoorce, both longtime employees of the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival, will leave the Festival in August.
Mital, the managing director of the Festival, has spent the last ten years refining and expanding the Festival. Under Mital’s leadership, the Festival became ten days long with the addition of a second weekend; the Waterfront World Tent brought reggae and international jazz and blues performers to Burlington; late-night FlynnSpace performances provided access to up-and-coming artists and legendary performers alike in an intimate setting; and clubs, bars, and restaurants offered music to their patrons throughout the ten days.
Mital says he feels fortunate to have the Festival present such artists as McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Dianne Reeves, Andrew Hill, Esperanza Spalding, and Béla Fleck in such diverse musical settings. “I will also remember the nights that were such a powerful celebration of our community, like Levon Helm, Belizbeha, and Trey Anastasio Band,” he says. “Other standouts are too many to mention, but I’m also in awe of the genius you hear every night in clubs and bars with the wealth of talent we have in Vermont.”
Searfoorce, the Festival’s associate director, began her tenure in 2006. Throughout her time with the Festival, support and awareness have grown tremendously. Her work with the Festival helped to brand it as one of the Top 10 Festivals in the World, according to the Chicago Review Press’s Music Festival Guide. She says, “The most overwhelming piece of my tenure is how these ten days in June make you fall in love with this community and Vermont all over again every year.”
Both Mital and Searfoorce credit the Festival’s success to the continued long-time partnership and foundation of support from Northfield Savings Bank, as well as the support of local and regional businesses that believe in the Festival’s impact on the state.
John Killacky, executive director of the Flynn, states, “Brian and Geeda’s tenure, along with recently retired Artistic Director Arnie Malina, transformed the Festival into one of the most important jazz events in this country. They will truly be missed, but we look forward to working with all of them in myriad ways in the future. This summer, as we prepare to celebrate the Festival’s 30th anniversary, the Festival advisory board, the city, and various other stakeholders will meet to craft its future along with Steve MacQueen, the Flynn’s new artistic director.
