Biographies
Jill Terhaar Lewis, soprano
A native of Greencreek, Idaho, soprano Jill Terhaar Lewis is a Professor of Vocal Music at Charleston Southern University and a respected performer in the Southeast Region. Known for her beautiful, rich tone and her ability to adapt to different styles and genres, she has performed as soloist with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Jazz Orchestra, and recently with the Lowcountry Voices and Charlton Singleton Ensemble in the Duke Ellington Sacred Concerts as part of the MOJA Festival. She has also been a guest artist for the Baker and Baker Recital Series at the Columbia Museum of Art, the Women & Concert Series (Rolling Stones), and The Hi Harmony concert, and is a recurring featured soloist in the Piccolo Spoleto Festival including several Spotlight Concerts with Piccolo Spoleto Festival Orchestra under Dr. Donald Portnoy. She is also a frequent guest with the Hilton Head Choral Society and other area orchestras and ensembles. She has presented American art song programs in Michigan, Idaho, South Carolina and Georgia. She has collaborated on art songs with composers in Michigan and South Carolina. She also has been working on crossover projects and recitals with her husband, jazz musician Robert Lewis and pianist Gerald Gregory. The three have released multiple albums together of original compositions and arrangements.
photo: S. Atkinson
Robert Lewis, saxophone
Based in Charleston, saxophonist Robert Lewis is in demand as an artist and clinician. Lewis plays regularly in a trio – Lewis/Gregory/Wiltrout - with Gregory (piano) and Ron Wiltrout (drums). Lewis also performs in other jazz ensembles, and is the lead alto player of the acclaimed Charleston Jazz Orchestra (CJO). Robert Lewis writes many arrangements and compositions for the CJO and his smaller groups. Lewis recently wrote a widely acclaimed jazz suite for the CJO on Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. He is also the Director of Jazz Studies at the College of Charleston.
photo: Reece Moore
Gerald Gregory, piano
Gerald Gregory is a versatile, well-respected pianist in the Charleston area who is fast making a name for himself along the East Coast. Gregory recently performed with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in a program featuring GRAMMY-Award winning singer, Erykah Badu. He has played in the Copenhagen Jazz Festival with Toca Toca, a Brazilian inspired ensemble. He is also part of the group Morimoto, which he helped form in 2006 along with Dave Linaburg (guitar) and Nick Jenkins (drums). Gregory also performs with the Charleston Latin Jazz Collective as well as the Charleston Jazz Orchestra.
photo: Reece Moore