Recently named a “Rising Star Baritone Saxophonist” in the 2025 Downbeat Critics Poll, NO FEAR Founder and Executive Director, Tim” Sully” Sullivan, has been a top call stage and studio performer, improviser, composer, arranger, educator, curriculum and program developer, and more for over two decades.

With a soulful and singular sound on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, whistles, and voice, he has performed, recorded, and toured throughout the U.S. and overseas with artists ranging from Soul Queen Aretha Franklin to Funk legend Fred Wesley to over a dozen NEA Jazz Masters to name a few.

For as long as he’s been performing, education has been an equal source of meaning and purpose in Tim’ s life. From 2009-2022, he taught extensively at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he also had the honor of performing at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Appel Room, and Rose Hall; recording on Jazz at Lincoln Center Records; filming for JALC’s online Jazz Academy; and more.

In 2012, he was awarded a doctoral fellowship to attend Teachers College, Columbia University, where he researched popular music learning, teaching artistry, and curriculum design, and taught at Teachers College Community School in Harlem. While at TCCS, he developed a curriculum dedicated to the music and sociocultural history of the Apollo Theater, located just three blocks away. The following year, he was hired by the Apollo and served as a lead music teaching artist, curriculum writer, and school tour guide for nearly a decade.

A former resident of New Orleans and graduate of UNO, Tim returned to the Big Easy in 2022 with a renewed appreciation for the city and its capacity to emanate Experimental Arts and Learning like none other in the U.S. He is thrilled to be making “art for heart’s sake” once again and serving his community in meaningful and purposeful ways.