COMMUNITY UNITY MUSIC & ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM

"Fe Nunn's legeacy as a musician, instructor, educator, humanitarian and friend of many in the Ithaca Community has spanned more than 30 years. His vision of a multicultural music program was birthed as an undergraduate student at Ithaca College. I have watched in amazement as he has overcome every challenge to achieve preeminence among area performers. His passion and drive for enhancing the lives of Tompkins County's youth is unparalleled. To be an icon while still living is truly an accomplishment. I can say emphatically that he is truly a pioneer in what he does and the "box" that bridles most of human creativity and accomplishment doesn't even exist for him!"

From L to R: Fe Nunn, piano; IC Professor Michelle Courtney Berry, vocals; and Chris White, cello perform live at the Ithaca College, "Light in Winter" Music Festival.

"The accompanying jazz-blues music was composed by Fe Nunn, who played piano behind Berry; they were joined by Chris White, M.M. ’87, on cello. “Such cross-discipline collaborations bring together people who normally [might] not work together, and the result is that they create new art forms,” says White.

Sharing creative ideas with other artists and scientists has an attraction for Nunn, a songwriter, composer, performer, and teacher. “As an avant-garde artist I am familiar with many different types of music—jazz, funk, hip-hop—which have a lot in common but are expressed in different fashions,” he says. “Adding poetry and science to music is appealing to me as an educator as well, because it reinforces the connections of different fields of study.” That, in turn, Nunn believes, affects the local community by leading to discussions of religion, politics, and difference. “People talk about diversity,” Nunn says, “but Light in Winter brings that idea to the fore.”

Fe Nunn began his musical career in his original hometown, Buffalo NY, where the culturally diverse, vibrant music scene was, and still is, rich with world class jazz, classical and R&B music, all of which greatly impressed and influenced him. For the past 25 years he’s been sharing music with Ithaca audiences. His 1999 CD release, "We Can Make It” , offers an in-depth view of his unique jazz and R&B expressions.

In recent years he has expanded from recording his own musical CD’s by stepping up to the role of musical producer with a variety of R&B and Hip Hop artists, as well as producing the music for TV and radio commercials. He is director and one of the originators of Ithaca’s new dynamic music school for youth, the ‘Community Unity Music Education Program’ where Ithaca’s youth are given the opportunity to be exposed to such musical influences as West African, Blues, Classical, R&B and Hip Hop.

As A Community Leader.....

Says Hank Roberts, Crossing Borders Radio Show co-host, ” Fe Nunn exemplifies a person who loves to share his wonderful musical gifts with others, in combination with a magnetic eloquence that seems to come in part from a respect for each person and situation he encounters. All of this is magnified and expanded by his abundant dedication to family and community. I consider him to be an important Ithaca musical and community icon.”