Roosevelt Griffin

Dr. Roosevelt Griffin III MA ’11 believes "being an educator is not a career, it is a lifestyle.” His approach to teaching is one that is intentional and full of care and love. He believes music education should be a vehicle to promote not only musical excellence, but also unity and diversity.
 
The Owner and Operator of GI Music LLC, Griffin specializes in curriculum, program, and professional development. In 2017 he founded the Griffin Institute of Performing Arts NFP where the transformative abilities of the arts are used to lift the lives of students and families throughout southern Cook County and beyond. In addition, Griffin leads as band director for Harvey School District 152 – where he attended schools from grades K thru 12 – and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's Youth ensemble. He co-directs and is a student mentor for VanderCook College of Music's One City Program.
 
Griffin worked with some of the world’s greatest musicians, including Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Ross, and Jimmy Heath, before becoming a full-time teacher. He is often invited to present at conferences and workshops for music education including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinics, National Association for Music Education, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Jazz Educators Network, Illinois Music Educators Association, Utah Music Educator Association, and others. He also serves on the National Association for Music Educators Council for Jazz Education, Jazz Education Network’s Education Committee, and the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra Education Committee. 
 
An award-winning educator, Griffin has been recognized multiple times for his contributions from a hometown street in Harvey, IL renamed “Roosevelt Griffin III Ave.” to a Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Golden Apple Foundation in 2014 to achieving Semi Finalist for “Best Music Educator” by the Grammy Foundation and Recording Academy in 2017. In 2015, Griffin received the “Outstanding Alumni” award from Northern Illinois University Alumni Association. Most recently, he received the “2021 Distinguished Alumni” award from Concordia University Chicago Alumni Association.
 
His training and transformative approach has been highlighted in the ASCD video by Eric Jenson, “Teaching With Poverty In Mind.”  He and his students have been featured in Downbeat and JazzEd magazines for obtaining an endorsement with Jody Jazz Mouthpieces. Griffin co-authored the latest addition to GIA Publication’s Teaching Music through Performance: Beginning Jazz Ensembles series and the Meredith Music publication Rehearsing the Jazz Band.
 
Griffin earned his BM in Music Performance (Tuba) and Illinois Teaching Certificate K-12 (Music) from Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL (2001). He completed his MA in School Leadership and
Type 75 Certificate from Concordia-Chicago (2011) following by an EdD in Organizational Leadership at Argosy University in Chicago, IL including a study sabbatical at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (2015).
 
He is proud to call Matteson home where he lives with his wife, Tasneem, and their three children.

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Presentation(s):

• Chicago Jazz Philharmonic Youth Combo

  Friday, January 9, 2026
  5:30 PM - 6:30 PM CST