We're pleased to announce that Neil Hansen of Powell has been appointed to the Wyoming Arts Council board by Governor Dave Freudenthal. Hansen replaces Sally Rogers of Jackson, who resigned earlier this year.Hansen is a dedicated arts educator, mentoring music students at Northwest College in Powell since 1982. He teaches hundreds of Big Horn Basin secondary school students each June at the Yellowstone Summer Music Camp in Powell and at the Yellowstone Jazz Camp each July in the mountains above Cody.
Hansen founded the annual Northwest Jazz Festival, celebrating its 25th year, which has featured jazz legends such as Maynard Ferguson and Benny Carter. He later launched the Yellowstone Jazz Festival with a full slate of concerts every summer in Powell and Cody.
He has received numerous awards, including a 2007 Wyoming Governor’s Arts Award, Music Educator of the Year in 2000 and 2004 from the North Big Horn Basin Music Educators, and "jazz educator" honors at Iowa’s Jim Coffin Jazz Festival. He was keynote speaker for the 2005 Texas Association of Music Schools Conference.
When Hansen isn’t teaching, he plays the trumpet with local and regional bands and orchestras.
As noted in Hansen’s Governor’s Arts Award proclamation in February: "His passion for music education and performance has had a valuable impact on the Big Horn Basin, the State of Wyoming and the region."
