Executive Director, Newport Live

Newport Live celebrates diverse music traditions through vibrant performances.

As executive Director, I have created a wide diversity of shows, including Americana artists, blues, an indigenous music series, a series with Lincoln Center Jazz to celebrate the 30th anniversary of South Africa Freedom Day, a women’s voice series and more. We have debuted artists who have gone on to play at the Newport Folk Festival, artist like Alisa Amador, who have won the tiny desk concert of the year award and Irish artist Lisa O’Neill, declared by the New York Times as the future of Irish Music.

I also work with various social nonprofit agencies throughout the community to help them get their message out and have their voices heard, including the NAACP, who awarded me the annual NAACP education award

Owner

Dick Lynn STUDIOS

I happily have re-booted my artist management company, working with the award-winning South African artist, Melanie Scholtz. Melanie Scholtz is a South African born, multi award winning jazz singer and composer. She started playing the piano at the age of 5 and went on to study Opera at The University of Cape Town Opera School where she graduated Cum Laude with a Performer’s Diploma in Opera in 2000. She has released five successful solo albums and has won many awards; In 2010, Melanie was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz and In 2012, and won all three prizes at the prestigious Jazz Revelations competition as part of the Jazz a Juan Festival in Nice, France. Melanie was also chosen to be a featured artist in The Great South African Songbook Tour from September 2019-Feb 2020 with Wynton Marsalis and The Jazz at Lincoln Centre. She was featured in New York , Chicago, Johannesburg and Vienna. Melanie recently released 2 records on AfricArise/Ropeadope Records, “Seven” and “Sweet Nancy”, the latter of which was debuted at Dizzy’s Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center) NYC.

I create large-scale, interactive interdisciplinary art Installations. They provide user experiences using sensors, interactive programming, audio, video, and other media as well as sculptural forms, with social and environmental messages embedded deeply inside. They have shown at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Waterfire/Providence, Oregon State University, and elsewhere.

I have designed and built studio furniture and installations of interior work for architects and private clients for 20 years. I also helped to restore the sculpture gardens at The Breakers (Vanderbilt mansion) in Newport, Rhode Island. I take on video, technology, and music projects, at request. My forte is creation of the initial event/show and related fundraising, production and staffing. I produced First Night for the City of Pittsburgh; executive produced the documentary “Ira’s People” radio pilot with Torey Malatia (The People’s Radio), co-creator of This American Life..

I worked with or am acquainted with various members of the corporate and foundation fundraising community nationally and locally. I have worked with independent groups and PBS in finding foundation and corporate funding for projects, as well as liaising with government institutions. I serve on the board of Make Music New York and The Greenwich Odeum Theater in East Greenwich, RI, and advise them on fundraising. I worked on various community and environmental projects in Southern New England, and organized the towns of the Narragansett Bay to fight a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in the bay. In my organizing activities, I worked with the federal, state, and local legislators to create the Congress of Councils of the town councils in Rhode Island and Massachusetts who share the Narragansett Bay.

consultant

at SOCIAL SCIENCES CONSULTANTS

I bring to SSC a combination of arts production and high level community activism.  With respect to production, I progress events through the conceptualization phase and achieve events related fundraising, production and staffing. Social Science Consultants provides consulting, training, and advisory services to the non-profit/NGO, religious, governmental, and international sectors.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF NATIONAL PRODUCTIONS

at TWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION

I was an Executive Producer of National Productions. I put together half million to million dollar funding partnerships with such for-profit partners as Warner Bros, Sony, Time-Life, & Viacom. 

In order to fund the production of our series "Liberty!", (a drama-doc on the revolution with Phillip Seymour Hoffman), I forged a partnership with the Surdna Foundation and came up with the idea to have bluegrass fiddler Mark O'Connor compose the score for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra for a soundtrack with Sony. For our Donna's Day parenting series, I put together a video and book deal with Time-Life Home Video. I raised $500,000 for each of these projects, totaling $1 million.

To get a project on robotics funded with Learning Curve Toys' Robotix toys, I produced interactive exhibits, including a virtual reality theater for the Carnegie Science Center, a special with our Newton's Apple series, a telecast of the Mars Rover from the Atacama Desert live back to the Science Center's planetarium - allowing the audience to control its movements, and put together a Robo-camp for kids at CMU. I raised $500,000 for this project, as well.

DIRECTOR OF NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

at WQED MULTIMEDIA

I was responsible for developing business in the for-profit arm of this non-profit public television station (something now called social entrepreneurialism).  I worked with foundations and corporate sponsors.

I forged partnerships between this station, with my contacts in the entertainment industry, such as Sony, Viacom, Warner Bros. Records, and others. I made a sale of their Wonderworks series to Showtime. I developed production funding in the half million to million dollar range. I assembled production teams, both in interactive production, which was in its infancy in 1992, and in television. I brought shows to the station from my New York days, including Elvis Costello and the Brodsky String Quartet, Marsalis on Jazz (with Wynton Marsalis), Bringing It All Back Home (A BBC series on the diaspora of Irish music to America and back, including such artists U2, Ricky Skaggs, and others).

Owner

At Blue Light Productions

I managed and booked international recording acts in New York City, negotiating their recording contracts, booking tours nationally and internationally, and overseeing press. We pioneered bands in punk and free jazz, as well as others. These acts included Chris Spedding (of Roxy Music), rockabilly pioneer Robert Gordon, The Waitresses, landmark jazz artist and bandleader Sun Ra, Grammy winning AACM jazz act Air (with Henry Threadgill), and others.  I produced the animation for Billy Joel’s Greatest Hits home video.