Staff
Deborah Maher, Executive Director
Deb brings a love of jazz and extensive experience in nonprofit management, community building and organizational development. Most recently she served as the Executive Director for the Community Center for the Performing Arts (WOW Hall) in Eugene, Oregon. She created systems, raised funds for operations and capital improvements, developed the leadership skills of the team, assisted the board in developing a streamlined and inclusive governance process, engaged in community outreach and connections with partners, and danced along with the staff, members and patrons. Most importantly, she has a deep understanding of the need to create a supportive organization so artists can be artists.
Ryan Meagher, Artistic Director, Director of PJCE Records
Ryan Meagher (pronounced Marr), originally a native of San Jose, California, is a jazz guitarist and composer who launched his international reputation in New York City (NYC) in 2003 after completing his bachelor of music degree at San Diego State University. He spent his first few years in NYC discovering his compositional voice and honing his improvisational craft. In 2011 he completed his master of music degree at the University of Nevada, Reno, and shortly after relocated to Portland.
Meagher is an established guitarist in Portland’s jazz community and is also known for his roles as the Artistic Director of the PJCE, Director of PJCE Records, co-founder of Montavilla Jazz, Festival Coordinator of the Mt Hood Jazz Festival, and currently holds teaching appointments at Mt Hood Community College, Portland State University, University of Portland, Willamette University, and is the Jazz Director at Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA. Previous appointments include Editor of Jazzscene Magazine, and Jazz Director of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
Mieke Bruggeman, Education Coordinator
Mieke Bruggeman is a Portland based multi-instrumentalist and educator.
Mieke can be heard regularly with the Quadraphonnes, Melao de Cuba/Son Cubano and the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE) and on occasion with groups like the Brown Branch Big Band, The Cabin Project, Jessika Smith Big Band, Stumptown Sirens, Ne Plus Ultra Jass Orchestra. National touring groups she’s worked with include WST Ska Orchestra, Ron Artis II & The Truth, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, The Temptations and the Four Tops.
Behind the scenes, Mieke plays multiple reeds for several musical theater companies and is regularly hired for recording sessions – Notable credits include “The Clapping Song” from the Netflix original All Together Now, and the soundtrack of Focus Feature film’s The Holdovers. Recently, she’s been curating her own performances to showcase her love of classical saxophone. In March 2025, Mieke took on her first production of Quadraphonnes Presents: Sax Pax for a Sax – presenting the music of Louis T. Hardin (aka Moondog) for large saxophone ensemble.
As education coordinator for the PJCE, she heads the Young Jazz Composers program. Mieke also has a full studio of private students and can be seen popping into various schools throughout Portland to teach workshops and coach young musicians.
Board of Directors
Donna Cruz-Moreno (President)
Donna Cruz-Moreno is originally from in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2002, she moved to Portland, Oregon with her husband and two sons. Donna became a Jazz student/enthusiast, and in the course of her studies, she learned more about Portland jazz artists and support organizations. She is President of “Portland Rock on with us” (PROWUS), a music scholarship program for students ages 8-18 in the Portland area.
Sean Beers (Vice President)
Beers is the President of Portland Product Werks, LLC where he leads the product, sales, marketing, finance and operating teams at the Company. He possesses extensive consumer products and general management experience having served over 10 years at Columbia Sportswear Company in a variety of professional roles, including in the areas of Finance, M&A, and Brand Management. While at Columbia, Mr. Beers was integral to executing the successful turnaround of the Sorel brand, which grew from bankruptcy at the time he assisted Columbia in acquiring the brand to approximately $50 mm in revenue under his leadership. Mr. Beers also served as the General Manager of Columbia Sportswear Company’s global footwear business, where he was successful in executing an operational turnaround for the division while positioning it for future growth. Prior to founding Portland Product Werks, Mr. Beers was the Chief Executive Officer of Portland based Korkers Products, LLC, whose primary business is in the fly fishing marketplace. At present Mr. Beers is focused on the day to day operations of Portland Product Werks’ wholly owned subsidiary, Dovetail Workwear, which itself has grown from a true startup to the world’s largest women’s only focused workwear brand with retail distribution throughout North America in just 5 years.
Mr. Beers is the proud father of three boys, and an active member of his community through extensive work with start up businesses over the last decade and prior service as the Board Chair of the federally funded National Crime Victim Law Institute, a NFP engaged in helping crime victims throughout the US. Mr. Beers is a licensed attorney in the State of Oregon and is also a licensed Certified Public Account with the Oregon Board of Accountancy. His interests include learning and playing music, fly fishing, and skiing.
Lee Toft
I took up the trumpet at a young age and have gigged off and on ever since. Growing up, my idols were Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan. Playing in R&B bands while in junior high and high school throughout the metro New York City area, I had the opportunity to perform often, including an amateur night at the Apollo Theater.
After graduating from college, I went on the road for few years and toured the US and Canada extensively while playing trumpet and keyboards for a road production of the Broadway show Beatlemania. Eventually I took on the responsibilities of tour manager and tour accountant while continuing to work as a backstage musician. After I got off the road, I picked up a day job.
Happily, I was still able to play trumpet on Latin gigs, club dates and freelance orchestral engagements. In 1991 I moved to Los Angeles and began a 25 year career in TV and Film post-production. In addition to live sports and entertainment broadcasts, I also worked on projects for ESPN, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, BET, Disney, SyFy, Animal Planet, Discovery Network, A&E as well as other organizations. In 2016 I moved to Oregon fulltime and transitioned into real estate (which it turns out is remarkably similar to post-production). In my spare time, I attempt to play simple piano pieces while thinking about working to get my trumpet chops back.
Marilyn Keller
Marilyn T. Keller, 2016 Jazz Society of Oregon Hall of Fame Inductee, is
a 38-year veteran of music and stage performance in Jazz, Gospel, R&B, Pop,
Blues, and theater, nationally and internationally. Her musical roots are diverse. She has built a career that has taken her as a feature artist to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Russia and the UK for concerts, festivals, nightclubs and recording work. Her voice can be heard on multiple recordings, movie sound tracks, commercials and documentaries.
Marilyn’s formative jazz training was as a member of the Mt. Hood
Community College Vocal Jazz Ensemble. She can be seen frequently at clubs, restaurants, festivals and holiday events throughout the Pacific Northwest with such artists as Don Latarski, Tom Grant, and Darrell Grant, most notably in his suites, “Step By Step – The Ruby Bridges Story,” and “The Territory.” She has performed weekly for 28 years with the Augustana Jazz Quartet. In 1997, she joined the Black Swan Classic Jazz Band, establishing a following in the Dixieland and Ragtime scene. She has also worked frequently in musical theater.
Marilyn is dedicated to music education and has given clinics and master classes for choirs and bands in public schools and is currently an Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, teaching Vocal Jazz Improvisation. https://www.marilyntkeller.com/
Mark Kramer
Mark Kramer, is a recently retired attorney with 40 years of experience in family law and civil litigation including personal injury, civil rights, and employment cases. He now a family law mediator and serves as a pro-tem judge for the Multnomah County Circuit Court. He is a member of the National Lawyers Guild and represents pro bono clients including Right 2 Dream Too. He joined the Board in 2015 and provides support to the Board in contract, regulatory compliance, insurance and other matters.
Mark graduated with honors from Cornell University and then received his law degree from Northeastern University. He is listed in Who’s Who in American Law. Mark is married to a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has two adult sons.
Douglas Detrick
Douglas Detrick is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, writer, and audio producer whose work in these diverse areas is distinguished by its quiet thoughtfulness and its embrace of good ideas from unconventional sources. He was the Executive Director of Portland Jazz Composers from 2013 to 2022, and is now the founder and principal of Substrate Arts Consulting.
Kerry Politzer
Kerry Politzer is a Portland-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator. She is on the music faculty of Portland State University and Clackamas Community College, and has also taught at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University, the University of Portland, and the University of Manitoba. An active clinician, she has adjudicated and taught at the University of Nevada at Reno, the Oregon Jazz Workshop, Boise State University, and the University of Kansas.
Kerry received a Bachelor of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied improvisation and composition with the late jazz guru Charlie Banacos, and a Master of Music from Rowan University.
Prior to her latest album Alternate Route (Whirlwind Recordings), Kerry released eight jazz CD’s as a leader, including Blue in Blue, which featured saxophonist Donny McCaslin and was termed a “first-rate jazz outing” by AllAboutJazz.com. Her commissions include works for the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble as well as a solo piano piece, “Microclimates,” for the Canadian classical pianist Andree-Ann Deschenes.
In 2019, Kerry was awarded a Regional Arts and Culture Council Artistic Focus grant to explore the music of Brazilian composer Durval Ferreira, which culminated in her 2019 release Diagonal: The Music of Durval Ferreira. Kerry continues to be inspired by Brazilian music.
The pianist has performed at festivals and venues including the 25th Annual Gene Harris Jazz Festival, Frankie’s Jazz Club, the Black Dolphin, Jazz Forum, the Oregon Coast Jazz Party, Jazz in the Valley, Mezzrow, Smalls, the Sound Room, and many others.
Owen Broder
Saxophonist and band leader Owen Broder has been recognized for his “smooth-as-silk alto and baritone saxophone work,” (DownBeat). DownBeat praised his album “Hertiage” as a “transcendent work,” and included his album “Hodges: Front and Center, Vol. 1” in their list of Best Albums of 2022.
Broder is a member of the Grammy-nominated Anat Cohen Tentet and frequently performs with the Grammy-winning Gil Evans Project and the YouTube sensation Postmodern Jukebox. Broder was a recipient of the 2018 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and his work was praised as having a “sturdy artistic thread that connects bandleaders Maria Schneider, Ryan Truesdell and Owen Broder,” (DownBeat).
He has received commissioned projects from the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers, the Airmen of Note, the U.S. Air Force Band in Europe, and several off-Broadway shows. Broder co-founded and performed in Live From Our Living Rooms. Credited as “the first online jazz festival” by Rolling Stone, the initiative raised over $140k in support of US-based musicians whose performance careers were halted due to COVID-19. As an educator, Broder teaches jazz courses at Portland State University and saxophone lessons at Pacific University.