Kent Ellingson has been a part of the North Texas music scene since arriving to the area in the early 1980’s. A graduate of the University of North Texas, Kent has performed in jazz groups for years and played in concert with many jazz greats, including Randy Brecker, Kevin Mahogany, Clark Terry, and Greg Bissonett. Kent is a full-time music instructor at Dallas ISD’s famed Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (BTWHS), teaching AP music theory and jazz piano and leading the jazz singers group. He headed BTWHS’s music department from 2004 to 2009 and also taught at Woodrow Wilson High School. Today, in addition to grooming future jazz stars at BTWHS, Kent teaches jazz piano at Collin College in Plano and Eastfield College in Mesquite, where he was featured in a solo jazz piano concert last summer.