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Paula Phillips

Paula is founder of Annapolis Jazz & Roots in Maryland and North American organization Jazz Beyond Borders.

About Me

Paula Anne (Paulina) Delve Phillips is one of Maryland’s most accomplished women in arts and culture. Since the mid-1970s, she has worked behind the scenes to present, promote and fund visual and performing arts projects. Known for a commitment to cultural diversity and artistic excellence, she contributes to cultural life in the Mid-Atlantic and beyond, helping artists and arts organizations develop and thrive. An accomplished writer, producer and segment host for radio, TV and cable news programs, she has also established educational programs and projects for adults, teens and children. She has interviewed such diverse artists as Ireland's Mary Black, Americans Rosanne Cash and Arlo Guthrie and was deeply affected by her work as a publicist for Nigerian percussionist and educator Michael Babatunde Olatunji in the 1990s. Impressed with the depth of her research regarding his cultural roots and career, he said she understood and explained his life's work better than any other writer or journalist he had encountered. Rykodisc gave her the honor of informing him of the 1991 Grammy Award for the groundbreaking album Planet Drum. Launched by Mickey Hart, the project featured Olatunji and many of the world's greatest percussionists.

In 2018, Phillips was nominated for an Annie Award in Anne Arundel County, Maryland in the Lifetime Achievement category. The first full time arts director for the county, she received two National Association of Counties Awards for a children’s festival and an annual performance series in Annapolis. She received a Citation from the Mayor of Annapolis for work as a producer and interviewer in the radio series “Voices of the Chesapeake Bay.” Many of her interviews focusing on environment and culture appear in a related 2008 book by Michael Buckley. She was also a key figure planning, promoting and fundraising for First Night Annapolis. With 40 sites, it was one of the longest running and largest events of its kind in the U.S.

Best known for her work with jazz artists, venues and festivals, Phillips has guided many artists up the career ladder, gaining national and international attention for regional artists, Grammy and Latin Grammy winners alike. Her promotion of U Street jazz venues drew media attention around the world. Campaigns about Baltimore and Eastern Shore jazz earned similar results. Phillips has managed landmark celebrations for many cultural organizations: the 25th year anniversaries of Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble and Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, and the 10th year anniversaries of Dance Place in Washington, D.C. and Maryland Summer Jazz in Bethesda. Much of her work has involved jazz album releases, landing most artists in the top half and top ten of the jazz, world music and CMJ charts. Her agency has managed label and independent releases. Teaming up with former clients Lynn Veronneau and Ken Avis, Phillips worked with jazz, national and international press to bring attention to contributions of the Byrd family in two major Jazz Samba Golden Anniversary celebrations. She also promoted the Baltimore Jazz Festival, the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival, the Maryland Seafood Festival and Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival. She was co-founder and administrative director of Maryland Summer Jazz and the Art in the Park Festival in Severna Park. During the Pandemic, she maintained the only continuous (and successful) jazz series in Anne Arundel County, Maryland by combining online concerts with Henry Wong of An die Musik along with outdoor and limited seat indoor presentations. Her next big move was founding Annapolis Jazz & Roots in 2021. As an educator, Phillips developed themes and classes and hired instructors for adult jazz education program Maryland Summer Jazz (predecessor to JazzWire). She mentored saxophonist Jeff Antoniuk for ten years and has mentored many undergraduate and graduate students in internships with area colleges and universities over the years. Many became prominent performing artists and administrators. She established “Jazz Talks” at Montpelier Arts Center and produced the annual Women in Jazz events there for nearly a decade. She has been a guest lecturer on the music business for inDepth Jazz Clinics & Concerts, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), the Mid- Atlantic Jazz Festival, Baltimore Jazz Alliance and Capitol Hill Jazz Foundation.