Jazz Forum Arts To Change Hands In July

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From left to right: Mark Morganelli, Ellen Prior, Darrian Douglas and Clara Winder

February 13, 2026

By Barrett Seaman—

After more than 40 years of bringing first class jazz to the New York scene generally—and at their own club, tucked away on Tarrytown’s Dixon Lane, Jazz Forum Arts founders and proprietors Mark Morganelli and his wife Ellen Prior are handing over management of JFA to jazz drummer and educator Darrian Douglas and Clara Winder, currently the club’s Marketing Director.

The transition will take place in July, with Douglas assuming Morganelli’s role as Executive Director while Winder takes on Prior’s duties as Chief Operating Officer. Both are intimately involved in the Forum’s management already. Douglas has been its Director of Programs since last summer, and Winder, a native of Dobbs Ferry, is currently Marketing Director who has been involved with programs for nearly a decade.

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Darrian Douglas had been Executive Director and Co-Founder of Second Line Arts Collective in New Orleans, where he helped build community-centered education programs for young musicians. A jazz drummer for 20 years, including five years with Ellis Marsalis and 13 years with Bria Skonberg, he brings a performer’s eye to his new management role. Paying tribute to Mark and Ellen, he says, “Every person who experiences Jazz Forum Arts, whether that’s in the club, at our summer concerts, or in a school, leaves feeling the warmth and love that Mark and Ellen have built into the foundation of our culture,”

Clara Winder has focused on building JFA’s audiences both in the Dixon Lane clubhouse and at Forum’s family of summer outdoor concerts, and education programs as well as managing day-to-day operations. “I know the voices of our staff, our artists and our patrons,” she says, “and I care deeply about this community. My goal is to support the people who make this place feel like home.”

The founding couple will remain closely involved with JFA, providing guidance, institutional knowledge, and support during this transition. Morganelli will then focus on performing as a jazz trumpeter with his group and publishing his memoir, My Jazz Life. Prior will join the JFA Board in 2027.

First thing on the retiring couple’s agenda is a trip to Italy, their third within a year. Back in Tarrytown, Douglas will tinker with JFA’s format, tweaking the summer schedule, for example, so that each of the three weekend performances (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) will feature a single artist.

JFA now hosts more than 300 performances annually at the Jazz Forum club and presents 32 annual free outdoor summer concerts. Under the new management team, its award-winning education programs serving children, teens, and families across the county will only grow.