Recently named a “Rising Star Baritone Saxophonist” in the 2025 Downbeat Critics Poll, Tim ”Sully” Sullivan has been a top call stage and studio musician for over two decades. He has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and overseas with artists including Soul Queens Aretha Franklin and Irma Thomas, Funk legends Fred Wesley and George Porter Jr., over a dozen NEA Jazz Masters, rock stars from bands like Bon Iver and Arcade Fire, and more.

With a soulful and singular sound on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, whistles, and voice, for as long as he’s been performing, education has been an equal source of purpose in Tim’s life. From 2009-2022 he developed curriculum and taught across the full spectrum of education programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he also had the honor of performing at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the Appel Room, and Rose Hall; recording on Jazz at Lincoln Center Records; filming for the online Jazz Academy; and more.

In 2012, Tim 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, which was dedicated to the music and sociocultural history of the Apollo Theater. The following year, he was hired by the Apollo and 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, where he started envisioning a conceptual framework for Experiential Arts and Learning, inspired by a city and culture that exemplifies experiential artmaking. He is thrilled to call New Orleans home once again and have the opportunity to empower young artists and the communities their artmaking can serve.