In its 42-year history, the organization now known as Living Jazz has had only three executive directors: co-founder Stacey Hoffman, who served from 1984 until 2023; Lyz Luke, who left in 2025 to become the cultural affairs manager for the City of Oakland; and now Mary Lins, appointed in May.
Lins, who spent seven and a half years as the executive director of the Berkeley Playhouse, continues the organization’s lineage of female executive directors, something that remains unusual in the jazz world.
In a phone interview, she said she plans to take time to get to fully know the institution, its mission, its staff, the teaching artists and the people it serves, before proposing any changes. “I am still learning so much,” she said—especially about the various programs. They include RootED, a tuition-free music, dance and performance program serving TK–12 students in under-resourced public schools; Jazz Camp West and Jam Camp West; and the popular annual community event, the “In the Name of Love Dr. Martin Luther King Tribute” at the Paramount Theatre.
Under Luke, RootED expanded from four schools served to 21, and the nonprofit’s operating budget more than doubled. Living Jazz has gone through multiple changes over the years, including a name change in 2011 from “Rhythmic Concepts,” introducing the Oakland Interfaith Choir in 1986 and the choir’s success allowing it to become its own nonprofit in 1991.
Lins’ extensive music background includes training in music and theater at Penn State and decades of experience as a singer/songwriter, in addition to her administrative resume. Before her appointment at Living Jazz, she was aware of the organization’s commitment to arts in the schools, one of her own passions.
“Children today live in a complex world,” she said. “The arts teach empathy and compassion … they are such a great place to process.” With federal funding currently drying up, resources like RootEd are even more essential, she emphasized. “The genre of jazz enhances the quality of [the participants’] lives.”
The Jazz Camps, which remain an essential part of Living Jazz’s programming, are another special interest for Lins. Jam Camp West is a seven-day overnight music, dance and vocal program for ages 10-17 and all skill levels, held in the redwoods of Loma Mar in San Mateo County. Jazz Camp West is an eight-day jazz overnight immersive experience for adults and teens of all skill levels, held in the redwoods in La Honda, also in San Mateo County.
For many of the kids and young adults participating in the camps, it’s not only an immersive experience in jazz, but their first extended foray into a non-urban environment. Living Jazz continues its commitment to the Trailblazers of Hope Quasi-Endowment, created under Luke and designed to support the long-term sustainability of camp scholarships.
“Living Jazz’s camps and fellowships draw participants from across the country and around the world, and the organization’s next chapter is being shaped by a belief that the arts thrive through collaboration, connection and community impact—not in silos,” the nonprofit’s materials state.
“Jazz is an American art form, and we have the Black community to thank for it,” Lins said. “The heart of jazz is a space of welcoming.” Jazz, she said, “creates a culture where we can take risks. This goes hand-in-hand with the spirit of the Bay Area.”
Lins expects to bring her outreach and fundraising expertise to Living Jazz. At Berkeley Playhouse, according to Living Jazz materials, “she led a period of sustained fiscal health, expanded access and scholarship programs, and strengthened the organization’s role as both a producing theater and a hub for arts education.”
Lins said, “I welcome more Bay Area [companies and organizations] to become familiar with Living Jazz and become partners.” As the nonprofit moves forward, it is building for the next 42 years—and rededicating itself to both community service and an art form that remains an American treasure.
For more information about Living Jazz and its programs, visit livingjazz.org.
