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NOTABLE ALUMNI

Keeping the Spirit of DESA Alive

Alumni and current students are the heartbeat of Ellington. We are proud that many continue to impact the community long after graduating. We are also fortunate that many alumni choose to share their talents as teacher-artists for the next generation of Ellington students. Please take a look at our most notable alumni along with those who are currently serving as teacher-artists, board members, or support staff at Ellington!

Littleton Alston

Class of 1978

Sculptor with a Masters in Fine Arts; received Congressional Recognition for his lifetime contributions in 2020.

Christylez Bacon

Visual Arts

Class of 2005

Grammy-nominated progressive hip-hop artist

Tanya Blount Trotter

Vocal Music

Grammy-nominated country singer as part of husband-wife duo, The Trotters

Jayna Elise Brown

Vocal Music

Class of 2019

Top 12 in American Idol; 2019 Virginia Williams Opera Prize Winner

Elana Casey

Visual Arts

Aliyha Chevalier

Artist and NBA athlete

Ani Dae

Songwriter and performer; business owner

Julee Dickerson Thompson

Artist

Nekisha Durrett

Visual Arts

Class of 1996

A mixed-media artist who employs the visual language of mass media to bring forward histories that objects, places, and words embody, but are not often celebrated.

Edwina Findley

Class of 1998

James Foster

Acclaimed Broadway producer and actor

Denyce Graves

Vocal Music

Class of 1981

International opera mezzo soprano

Corey Hawkins

Theatre

Class of 2006

Emmy and Tony-nominated actor (24, Walking Dead, In The Heights, Straight Outta Compton, Color Purple)

Corcoran Holt

Instrumental Music

Class of 2000

2024 Artist in Residence for DC Jazz Festival

Reuben Jackson (deceased)

Poet, jazz scholar and radio host

Njena Jarvis

Visual Arts

Class of 2000

Multimedia sculptor and performance artist

Kenneth Kellog

Vocal Music & Visual Arts

Class of 1997

Opera singer

Jamie Lawson

Theatre

Class of 2013

Actress (The Batman (2022), The Woman King (2022) and How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022)

Thad Mumford (deceased)

Amiri Nash

Class of 2022

Washington’s Youth Poet Laureate in 2021

Jamilla Okubo

Visual Arts

Artist who combines painting, textile design, fashion and storytelling to explore the complexity of her American, Kenyan and Trinidadian roots.

Wallace Roney (deceased)

Instrumental Music

Class of 1979

Three time Grammy-award winning trumpeter and composer

Lamann Rucker

Theatre

Class of 1990

Actor (As The World Turns, Why Did I Get Married?, and Greenleaf)

Stan Squirewell

Visual Arts

Class of 1996

Painter, photographer, installation, and performance artist

Tony Terry

Vocal Music

Singer

Topaz (aka Dripping Spring) n/a

Musical maestro and eclectic artist

Samira Wiley

Theatre

Class of 2005

Emmy, SAG and GLADD-winning actress (Orange is the New Black and Handmaid’s Tale)

Elizabeth Wilson

Actress

YahZarah

Vocal Music

Class of 1998

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter

Jakiya Ayanna & Shaina Aisha Amour

Sister singing duo

William Becton

Vocal Music

Class of 1986

Reached #1 on on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums Chart with his hit single “Be Encouraged.” He recently released “In the Morning” from his upcoming new album “The Broken Trilogy,

Johnetta Boone

Visual Arts

Costume Designer (Yellowstone, Greenleaf, Hustl, Cadillac Records)

Marjuan Canady

Theatre

Class of 2003

Tony-nominated Broadway Producer and  award-winning Caribbean-American artist, entrepreneur, educator, and literacy advocate

Greta Chapin

Matthew Crittenden

Dance

Class of 2023

Michaela Angela Davis

Class of 1982

Writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture (Hair Tales: The Parlor (2016), Behind the Curtain: Eclipsed (2016) and The Hair Tales (2022)

Kimberly E. Douglas

Vocal Music

Class of 1988

Wooly Mammoth TheatreCo. Managing Director

Samantha Figgins

Dance

Class of 2007

Dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance

Donnell Floyd

Class of 1985

Founding member of Go-Go band Rare Essence 

Andrew Gelfman (deceased)

Emmy-nominated videographer and editor for NASA Television

Tanya Hamilton

Visual Arts

Class of 1986

Film director and producer (Night Catches Us (2010), The Chi (2018) and Queen Sugar (2016)

Tristan Haynes

Vocal Music

Class of 2017

Freelance producer in Los Angeles and member of metal band, Near an Open Flame; 2017 Virginia Williams Opera Prize Winner

Tracy Inman

Dance

Class of 1979

Co-Director of the Ailey School, dancer, choreographer and educator

Michael Jackson, Jr.

Dance

Class of 2005

Dancer with Alvin Ailey

Khalil D'Jamall

Painter, graphic artist, emcee, photographer, videographer

Simbi Khali

Theatre

Actress, singer, and songwriter (Martin, 3rd Rock from the Sun)

Ari Lennox

Vocal Music

Class of 2009

Grammy-nominated musician and composer

James Foster

Meshell Ndegeocello

Instrumental Music

Grammy-award winner singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist

Clifton Powell

Class of 1974

NAACP-award winning actor and comedian (Ray, Selma Lord Selma, Dead Presidents, and Menace 2 Society, and the TV series The Family Business, Sacrifice, and Saints & Sinners)

Kevin Ross

Vocal Music

Class of 2005

Ground-breaking R&B singer with top billboard songs

Mike Scott

Musician who has worked with Prince, Lionel Ritchey and others

Kanii Nkson Shorter Jr.

Hank Willis Thomas

Museum Studies

Class of 1994

Conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media and popular culture

Therese Renee Watson (deceased)

An accomplished graduate of DESA, UDC (Bachelor’s of Music), and North Carolina Central University (Master’s of Music). She was a vocal powerhouse and a 2x nominated Wammie artist for her 2020 project, Fortitude and inspired students in the classroom and throughout the music scene nationally and internationally. Theresa was a Nneena Freelon “Jazz in July” scholarship recipient, where she studied under jazz legend Sheila Jordan. She has performed for Barack Obama and at the Lincoln Center. Theresa headlined North Carolina’s Bimbi Festival, The Playlist Series, and the Aretha Franklin Tribute. Theresa was also chosen to represent Washington, DC in Muriel Bowser’s Arts Exchange Program in South Africa. MusicianShip Team

Ben Williams

Instrumental Music

Class of 2002

Grammy-winning bassist

Kevin Winn (deceased)

Dance

Dancer, choreographer, teacher

Maimouna Youssef

Literary Media & Communications

Class of 2002

Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter

Quique Aviles

Class of 1985

DC poet, performer, and community activist

Barry Bishop

Visual Arts

Class of 1987

Portait artist

Amy Bormet

Instrumental Music

Class of 2002

Founder of Washington Women in Jazz Festival, pianist, vocalist and composer

Marc Cary

Instrumental Music

Post-bop jazz pianist

Dave Chappelle

Theatre

Class of 1991

Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian and actor

Maya Cunningham

Fulbright scholar, ethnomusicologist, Africanist/African Americanist scholar, cultural activist, and Black music practitioner

Matthew Dickens

Class of 1979

Actor, singer, dancer and writer, producer, director

Gabrielle Dubose

Dance

Dewitt Fleming, Jr.

Starred in the Broadway musical, A Wonderful World, a musical about the life of music legend, Louis Armstrong

Jen Furlong

Author, producer and actor

Johnny Gill

Class of 1985

R&B singer-songwriter and actor

Robin Y. Harris

Technical Design & Production

Yvette Heyliger

Theatre

Class of 1978

Actress (The Cosby Show), playwright, producing artist, educator, activist, and author (What a Piece of Work is Man! Full-Length Plays for Leading Women)

Yasha Jackson

Theatre

Class of 2003

Actress (The Flight Attendant (2020), Black Mirror (2011) and Manifest (2018)

Sandra Jackson-DuMont

Director and CEO of Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, former Director of Education at MOMA

Tracie Jade Jenkins

Theatre

Class of 1988

Producer, known for Peace of Mind with Taraji (2020), Entertainment Tonight (1981), The Real (2013), Executive Director at The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, Former Director of Arts at Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Billie Krishawn

Vocal Music & Visual Arts

Performer and teaching artist

Sylver Logan Sharpe

Vocal Music

Soul, jazz, gospel & blues singer

Brenda Morris

Theatre

Class of 1979

Litigator, executive, and Ellington Fund Vice President

Arcmanoro Niles

makes vivid, brightly-hued paintings that expand our understanding of traditional genre painting and portraiture.

Serena Reeder

Theatre

Actor, writer, and director

Gregory Charles Royal

Musician, trombonist, composer, writer, co-founder of The BeBop Channel, founder of the New York Jazz Film Festival, judge on America's Hot Musician. Artistic Director of the American Youth Symphony (AYS) in D.C.

Adam Serwer

Theatre

Class of 2001

NYT best-Selling author (The Cruelty is the Point), CNN Commentator, staff writer for The Atlantic 

Al Strong

Instrumental Music

Class of 1988

Trumpeter

Mary Timmony

Instrumental Music

Class of 1988

Singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and violist

Rosalind “Roz” White

Vocal Music

Class of 1988

Vocal musician, actor, motivational speaker, and educator

Clifton Williams

Instrumental Music

Class of 2010

An accomplished pianist and songwriter and graduate of Berklee College of Music. Served as Musical Director for the two-time Emmy Award winning Black Music and Civil Rights Movement Concert.

Gail J. Wright

Civil rights attorney and international mediator

ALUMNI CURRENTLY ON
STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dance

Modern I, Dance Improvisation, Dance Orientation

Visual Arts

Actress (Morning Glory (2010), Everybody's Fine (2009) and Heights (2005), Theatre Teacher

 

 

Robin Y. Harris '89

Theatre

Chair of Technical Design & Production Department, Staff Representative to DESAP Board

Fran Scott '78

Visual Arts

Instrument Music Teacher

Gregory Watkins '04

Theatre

Singer, musician, musical director, Director of SEL & Student Services

Robert Blount '79

-

Pianist, Vocal Music Teacher

Gabrielle Dubose '79

Dance

English Teacher

Kieron C. Irvine

Visual Arts

Instrument Music Teacher

Monique D. Spells '99

Vocal Music

Singer, Chair of Vocal Music

Kaia Calhoun

-

Theatre Teacher

Mike Easton '81

Visual Arts

Chair of Visual Arts Department

Brenda Morris, Esq. '79

Theatre

Senior Executive, Ellington Fund Vice President

Nikki Sutton '92

Dance

Physical Education, Dance Potpourri, Dance Composition, Modern Dance II

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