Faculty

Centrum Faculty

This skilled creative collective could wrap their arms around the globe. Much respect, big hugs.

Photo of Lisbeth White

Lisbeth White

February 14, 2026 Reading

Lisbeth White is an enchantivist writer based in the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of American Sycamore; the elemental memoir, A Most Natural Thing; and co-editor of Poetry as Spellcasting.

Photo of Michael Wiegers

Michael Wiegers

December 13, 2025 Reading

Michael Wiegers has been editing books for Copper Canyon Press since 1993, and currently serves as the Press’s Executive Editor/Editor in Chief. He has edited two anthologies covering the history of Copper Canyon Press poetry: A House Called Tomorrow: 50 Years of Poetry and Come Shining: More Poems and Stories from Fifty Years of Copper Canyon Press.

Photo of Phil Wiggins

Phil Wiggins

Faculty

Phil Wiggins is a versatile traditional harmonica player, continuing the Piedmont blues tradition, a gentle and melodic blues style of the mid-Atlantic region. He plays the diatonic ten-hole harmonica in the country blues style, cupping both hands around the instrument and playing acoustically.

Photo of Jon Wikan

Jon Wikan

Faculty

Drums

Drummer, percussionist and composer Jon Wikan was born in Petersburg Alaska and raised in
Seattle, Washington.
Jon spent summers in Alaska engrossed in the fishing industry while working out his drum
technique on the back of a fish boat rail, using the money he made fishing to purchase his first
drum set.
Jon’s drumming life began in his teenage years with his heavy metal obsession, followed by
years of Soca band playing in Seattle and finally resolving into the jazz idiom upon discovering
the deep pocket swing of Jeff Hamilton.…

Photo of Buster Williams

Buster Williams

Faculty

Bass

Buster Williams is a prodigious artist whose playing knows no limits. He has played, recorded and collaborated with jazz giants such as Art Blakey, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Chet Baker, Chick Corea, Dexter Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt, Herbie Hancock, Larry Coryell, Lee Konitz, McCoy Tyner, Illinois Jacquet, Nancy Wilson, Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, the Jazz Crusaders, Ron Carter, Woody Shaw, Sarah Vaughan, Benny Golson, Mary Lou Williams, Hank Jones, Lee Morgan, Jimmy Rowles, Hampton Hawes, Cedar Walton, Bobby Hutcherson, Billy Taylor, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Errol Garner, Kenny Barron, Charlie Rouse, Dakota Staton, Kenny Dorham, and Freddie Hubbard, to name a few.…

Photo of Jontavious Willis

Jontavious Willis

Artistic Director, Traditional Blues

Blues musician and multi-instrumentalist, Jontavious Willis, from Georgia, has been named Centrum’s Artistic Director for Acoustic Blues beginning in 2020.

Photo of Reeb Willms

Reeb Willms

Washington – guitar and singing

 

Photo of George Wilson

George Wilson

Faculty

George has performed and recorded with the popular “Fennig’s All-Star String Band”, featuring Bill Spence on hammered dulcimer, since 1975. He has performed and recorded with the “Whippersnappers” (Wilson, Peter Davis and Frank Orsini) since 1976.

Photo of Matt Wilson

Matt Wilson

Faculty

Drums

Grammy nominee Matt Wilson leads the Matt Wilson Quartet, Arts and Crafts, Christmas Tree-O, and the Carl Sandburg Project. He is an integral part of bands led by Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, Bob Stewart, Denny Zeitlin, Ron Miles, Marty Ehrlich, Ted Nash, Jane Ira Bloom, and Dena DeRose among others.…

Photo of Martin Wind

Martin Wind

Faculty

Bassist and composer Martin Wind was born in Flensburg, Germany in 1968 and has been living in the New York City area since 1996.He earned a diploma as Orchestra Musician at the Cologne Conservatory and completed his master’s degree in jazz composition and performance at NYU.