Staff – Litchfield Performing Arts

Vita West Muir

Executive/Artistic Director

Vita West Muir is the Founder and Executive/Artistic Director of the not-for-profit Litchfield Performing Arts, Inc. (1981–present), where she has developed and led award-winning and enduring arts education and performance programs for more than four decades.

Perhaps best-known among these are the renowned Litchfield Jazz Festival (since 1996) and Litchfield Jazz Camp (since1997). Among her student-centered programs are Project PoetryLive!, teaching poetry, music, art and dance for public school districts across Connecticut for 25 years, and the WestConn/LPA Jazz Festival for middle, high school and college students for 9 years. This season, she piloted Swinging Saturdays, a New Haven-based, free program for teens running for half the school year. There, a faculty of award-winning artists teaches the history of jazz and ensemble playing, songwriting and recording and jazz-inspired dance.

Muir founded several concert series, starting in 1981. Among these was a classical series that ran for 20 years, presenting artists like the Tokyo, Shanghai and Cleveland Quartets; jazz artists like Marian McPartland and Dick Hyman; and dance companies like Alvin Ailey and Pilobolus. Her newest music series are at a historic country church in Milton and at the Palace Theater in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut.

Muir’s efforts have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Governor’s Award for Culture and Tourism, the Chamber Music America CMAcclaim Award, and the Rotary Paul Harris Medal. She was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

She has served on the Board of Young Audiences, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the CT Department of Education. She has won innumerable grant awards over the years, including a 3-year grant from the Federal Department of Education for Model Middle School Programs, many from the NEA, and major awards from the State of Connecticut Dept. of Culture and Tourism, the Connecticut Department of Education, and many others.

As a professional writer in an earlier incarnation, she documented the Biomedical Results of Apollo for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Tegan Ryan

Managing Director

Email: tegan@litchfieldjazzfest.com

James Cannizzaro

Marketing Director

Email: james@litchfieldjazzfest.com

James Cannizzaro is the Marketing Director at Litchfield Performing Arts. He began with the organization as a summer intern in 2022, continued as a freelance contributor in 2023, and was hired full-time in 2024. In his role, James oversees marketing, communications, and outreach for all LPA programs, including the Litchfield Jazz Festival and Litchfield Jazz Camp. He manages press, social media, web, email, and advertising campaigns, and has recently led new initiatives to expand video content, creating masterclass videos, concert recordings, and promotional media that serve both the current camp community and wider audiences.

James’ efforts have also focused on updating LPA’s online presence and strengthening connections with schools and teachers across the region, supporting Jazz Camp’s mission to reach the next generation of young musicians.

A graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in Digital Marketing, James brings both creative and strategic skills to his work. For him, the most meaningful part of his role is helping young people find opportunities and inspiration through LPA programs.