LENARD SIMPSON

Lenard Simpson is a saxophonist, composer and educator from Milwaukee. He received a B.M. in jazz performance from Northern Illinois University. In 2018, Lenard was selected by a panel of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, James Newton, and Ambrose Akinmusire to be a member of the Thelonious Monk Institute Fellowship, which has since been renamed as the Herbie Hancock Institute. After finishing his master’s degree at the Institute, Lenard moved to Chicago where he remains an active performer and educator playing with artists such as Marquis Hill and Kurt Elling.