Production Team
Sound & Spirit Executive ProducerJon Solins holds executive producer responsibilities for the series. As Program Director and Music Projects Director at WGBH 89.7, Solins is responsible for special projects in all musical genres, including local live performance programs and concert recordings, national productions and international relations. Solins also serves as the PRI representative to the European Broadcast Union. He was producer/executive producer of the first live concert broadcasts from Eastern Europe to the United States (St. Matthew Passion from Leipzig, 1985) and from Japan to the United States (New Japan Philharmonic, 1986). He also has executive-produced WGBH's annual broadcasts from the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day concerts since 1985.
Currently, Solins oversees the production and distribution of WGBH's international export service for American music, Art of the States, and production of weekly live broadcasts of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. His production credits also include live broadcasts from the Boston Early Music Festival, the Nakamichi International Music Series, New Orleans Live! From the 1990 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and I'm Gonna Let It Shine: Songs and Stories of the Civil Rights Movement. Solins' productions have won numerous awards including the Ohio State Award, Gabriel Award, International Radio Festival of New York, Broadcast Media, CPB and NFCB. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College.
Sound & Spirit ProducerGary Mott comes to WGBH and Sound & Spirit with a thorough understanding of radio production processes. He has worked for various radio organizations in Chicago and Boston. His career has taken him from the commercial air studio to the demanding production environment in public broadcasting. In addition to producing Sound & Spirit, Gary is involved in project development for Music & Words, a project that introduces music and storytelling into the Boston Public Schools, and producing various live performances and special programming for broadcast. He also maintains saysyou.org, the website of the NPR word-game show Says You!. He holds a B.A. in English from North Park University in Chicago and an M.A. in Mass Communication from Emerson College in Boston.
Sound & Spirit Research AssociateJeffrey Nelson came to WGBH from ten years as Music Director, host and producer of classical and religious programming at WGTS-FM Takoma Park, Maryland. During this period he graduated from high school and went on to earn simultaneus bachelor's degrees in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from the University of Maryland College Park. Relocating for graduate studies at Boston University's Division of Religious and Theological Studies, Jeff spent seven years as a Production Assistant with Morning pro musica at WGBH 89.7 while working on a PhD in Religion and Literature. Joining the Sound & Spirit staff at start-up, he served in many roles, production assistant, webmaster, promo producer... Finally he was simply designated a research associate, a position in which he has done many things, including conceiving, researching and writing such programs as "Vehicles of Salvation", "Food of the Gods", "Goddesses", "Shaker Gifts" and "The Lord is My Shepherd."
Today, while Jeff devotes most of his time to the WGBH Music Library and Radio Archives, he continues to maintain the website and is on tap for program research and listeners' questions.
Stephen Snyder, formerly Producer of Sound & Spirit (from 1996-1998), is now working for PRI's The World, the daily international news program that originates just down the hall from us. While much of his work at The World is behind the scenes, Snyder can sometimes be heard in the concluding musical segment of the program. In the Global Hit feature at the end of the hour, Snyder (along with Marco Werman) explores music from around the globe to find the connections between America and the rest of the world.
Helen Barrington's passion for radio began in Boston and brought her back, in 1998, when she joined WGBH 89.7 to produce Sound & Spirit. A life-long public radio listener, Barrington performed in a radio theater troupe at Oberlin College. A move to California led her to KZYX-FM in Mendocino County, where she helped develop programming and hosted music shows. In 1992, Barrington moved to the Netherlands and worked for Radio Netherlands' English service. Barrington has also been a contributor to the BBC World Service, Pacifica Network News, and Marketplace.
Joellen Easton came to WGBH 89.7 after graduating from Tufts University with a B.A. in Anthropology. She worked with Sound & Spirit from 1999-2002, first as Research Assistant, then Production Secretary, and finally as Production Assistant. After Sound & Spirit she worked on the Culture Desk, and today she is an Associate Producer for the PRI/BBC international news program, The World. Joellen is also a master's candidate in Comparative Media Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she is studying the intersection of media, technology and politics.
Titilayo Ngwenya was the Sound & Spirit Production Secretary from 1996 until 1999, when she moved to New York City to pursue her jazz singing career. Working a night job and pursuring her music provides both satisfaction and creative challenges. Lately she spends her free time listening to Aimee Mann, Etta James, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, India Arie, Bjork, Simon and Garfunkel, etc., and catching up on reading about others' experiences in pursuit of their art. Watch her website for new performance dates, and to get an introduction to her music.
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