Amherst Summer Jazz Intensive
Tom Reney has been the host of Jazz a la Mode on NPR-affiliate WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts for over 25 years. In recent years, he has been a Visiting Lecturer at Mount Holyoke College, where he taught a seminar on Jazz in American Culture, and for many years he has been a guest lecturer at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts. Reney is also a freelance writer whose essays and reviews on Duke Ellington and other jazz subjects have appeared in The Boston Globe, Downbeat Magazine, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, and the Valley Advocate. He is the curator of the Jazz a la Mode Film Series at Amherst Cinema.
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Thomas F. Reney

PROFILE

Nationally-recognized public radio personality and producer of Jazz a la Mode.
 Proven record of audience and membership growth. Enthusiastic and engaging
public speaker on jazz history and American popular music. Strong background
in writing and public relations.


EDUCATION
University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1983
BA, Cum Laude, BDIC Program / American Studies / Expository Writing


EXPERIENCE

University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1984 - Present
National Public Radio, WFCR-FM, Amherst, MA
(NPR affiliate)
  • Jazz Producer, Jazz a la Mode
    Originator, Producer, and Host of weeknight,
    3-hour program Jazz a la Mode.
1984 - Present
  • Public Relations / Staff Writer / Editor
1986 - 1990
  • Acting Program Director
1985 - 1986

WCUW-FM, Worcester, MA (NFCB Affiliate)
1977 - 1983
Jazz Director


RELATED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, New York, NY 1992 - 1995
Author, Panel on Jazz History for The Cambridge Biographical
Encyclopedia
Editorial Consultant / Author of biographical entries on jazz and
popular music figures for The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography

Freelance Writer
The Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, Downbeat, Hartford Advocate,
Valley Advocate, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Worcester Magazine,
RCA Records, Sharp Nine, and Rounder Records.

MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE 2007 - present
Department of History: Jazz in American Culture
Visiting Lecturer

Instructor 1991 - 2004
Self-employed as instructor of jazz history workshops.

Guest Lecturer Ongoing
American music topics at Amherst, Smith, Holyoke Community
and Hampshire Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts.

Tour Leader Ongoing
International Jazz Festivals in Montreal, Quebec; Marciac, France;
Copenhagen, Denmark; Terrassa Festival, Barcelona, Spain.
Cross Culture Travel Programs, Amherst, MA

Program Evaluator Ongoing
Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities, Boston, MA

Master of Ceremonies Ongoing
Tanglewood Jazz Festival, Lenox, MA
Newport Festival, Newport, RI
UMass Fine Arts Center: Jazz a la Mode Concert Series;
Jazz in July Festival
Jazz a la Mode Film Festival, Amherst Cinema