Russell Schmidt, a pianist, is the Education Coordinator at Music Serving the Word Ministries (MSW), Carefree in Arizona. Russell’s primary focus at MSW is to create new educational curricula that can be used locally and nationally for the continual growth and development church musicians. Russell was previously the Director of Jazz Studies, University of Utah. He also held faculty positions at Bowling Green State University and Northern Arizona University. Schmidt, a jazz pianist has had the privilege of performing with artists such as Carl Allen and Gerry Mulligan. Russell has also been a soloist in over 30 professional orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra of the Kennedy Center, and the San Francisco Symphony. From www.verdenews.com
