Recently named a “Rising Star Baritone Saxophonist” in the 2025 Downbeat Critics Poll, Tim ”Sully” Sullivan is a gifted improviser with a soulful and singular voice on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, and voice. He has been a top call stage and studio performer for over two decades and performed extensively throughout the U.S. and overseas with artists ranging from Aretha Franklin to over a dozen NEA Jazz Masters to present day rock icons from bands like Bon Iver and Arcade Fire.

For as long as he’s been performing, education has been an equal source of meaning and purpose in Tim’s life. For over a decade he taught across the full spectrum of education programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, including Swing University, Middle School Jazz Academy, and the award-winning early childhood program WeBop. At JALC he has 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 the online Jazz Academy; and much 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. At TC he also taught applied saxophone and developed a curriculum for Teachers College Community School in Harlem, dedicated to the music and sociocultural history of the Apollo Theater. He was hired by the Apollo the following year, where he served as a lead teaching artist, curriculum writer, and school tour guide for nearly a decade.

Tim returned to his former residence of New Orleans in 2022 and started to envision a conceptual framework for Experiential Arts and Learning, inspired by a society that exemplifies experiential artmaking. He is thrilled to call New Orleans home once again and have the opportunity to empower local young artists and the communities their artmaking can serve.