Jeannine Otis

At the age of 16, she was accepted early to Wellesley College and was the first African-American to a Presser Music Scholar. She earned a BA in Sociology and Musicology. She went on to earn an MA in Theater Education and Performance at Emerson College, where she won a teaching fellowship.[2]

She has performed with Kool and the Gang, the Shirelles, Grover Washington Jr., Eliot Goldenthal, Pete Seeger and many leading hip-hop artists. She has worked in theater with luminaries such as Galt MacDermot, Liz Swados and Robert Lupone.[2]

She wrote a book published by Seabury Press, titled The Gathering, based on her work with imprisoned teenagers.[1] The Gathering has been turned into a theatrical performance.[1] She worked with the New York City Department of Education as an Arts in Education evaluator.[2]

She has toured extensively in productions of Porgy and Bess.[2]

She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from The City Council of New York,[3] the St. Mark's Griffin Outreach Award, the William A. Morris Award from the NAACP,[3] and a Reggie for her Staten Island appearance in The Cradle Will Rock (which she also performed in Manhattan),[4] and she is listed in "Who's Who in America."[2]

She has performed at the Staten Island Jazz Festival for many years,[5][6][7][8] at the Empowering Voices Dinner Gala hosted by Illuminart Productions in 2018.[9]

Currently, she is a Warner European recording artist,[10][2] has been music director for St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery for 25 years,[1][10] an outreach/education coordinator for the Staten Island Museum, and president and consultant for Light of Mine Productions.[2]

She collaborated with Heikki Sarmanto on Magic Song.[11]

Jeannine lives in Staten Island, NY with her long-time partner, Larry Marshall.[2]