Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

38 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT I nspired to enter the world of music by his mother, a classical pianist, and his father, a string band player, James Hardy Patterson delved into music during his high school years. Earning a Bachelor of Arts from Clark College in 1957, he completed postgraduate coursework at Clark Atlanta University in 1962 and a Master of Music from the University of Michigan in 1965. Later on in his career, he pursued further coursework at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in 1978 and received an honorary doctorate fromMorris Brown College in 2018. At the inception of his career, Mr. Patterson served the Fulton County Board of Education as a teacher and department chairman, roles he held for 27 years. During this time, he was an entertainer with the Motown Band in Detroit, professional conductor with the “Freda Payne Show” at Fairmont Hotel in Atlanta and leader of the James Patterson Jazz Quartet, a role he has held since 1960. Likewise, he has served as an instructor to associate professor of music and director of the jazz orchestra at Clark Atlanta University since 1962. He has served as a musician with the Atlanta Pops Orchestra since 1970, co-director of the African American Jazz Caucus and co-director of Big Bands since 2002, and chief executive officer of the James Hardy Patterson Foundation, Inc., since 2011. Mr. Patterson has been a prolific music director, composer, performer, arranger and conductor. Performing both nationally and overseas in Switzerland, Italy and France, he notably performed at the Trumped Awards by CNN and at the W.E.B. DuBois International Conference at Clark Atlanta University. Since 1994, he has served as vice president of the Atlanta Federation of Musicians, and since 1969, on their board of directors. Likewise, he has performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and auditioned for the position of assistant conductor with the Atlanta Symphony. As a testament to his success, Mr. Patterson won the Jazz Award from the Jazz Journalist Association, the Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Award and the Bronze Jubilee Award from Station WETV. Named One of Outstanding Young Men of America, he also received the Paul Mitchell Community Jazz Award from Station WRFG. JAMES HARDY PATTERSON MUSICIAN, EDUCATOR, ENTERTAINER James Hardy Patterson Foundation, Inc. Atlanta, GA