Widow of jazz great Michael Brecker, Susan is a trained psychotherapist. Working in psychiatric hospitals and a private practice for many years, she gave up her work in order to raise their two children. During that time, Susan produced the critically acclaimed play, Housewives on Prozac, which had a sold out, 6-week run at the Schoolhouse in Croton, New York. This led to producing and directing 7 plays at the Hastings-on-Hudson Middle and High Schools. When their children were older, she began to work again as a therapist. Unfortunately, she had to suspend her work when her husband was diagnosed with MDS, a form of leukemia, in 2005. For many patients, the only cure for leukemia is a bone marrow transplant from a matching donor. Because Michael was unable to find a match in the bone marrow donor registry, Susan began a worldwide plea for new donors, and sent an email asking for people to join the registry. Within 24 hours, this email went around the world, and was translated into 6 languages. With the help of Mike’s longtime manager, Darryl Pitt, they held donor drives around the world, most notably at the Red Sea, Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. Together, they raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and were able to test thousands of new donors. In Israel alone, 24 lives have been saved from the Michael Brecker Donor Pool. It was Michael’s brave decision to go public with his illness that facilitated this outpouring of donors, and Susan is honoring her husband’s memory in her dedication to raising awareness about the vital need for bone marrow donors. She lives outside of NYC with their son and daughter.

Businessman
James Chippendale is founder of CSI Entertainment Insurance, which is now part of Doodson Global, the world’s largest insurer of music and special events. Chippendale and his company have worked with some of the largest events, artists and athletes in the world including Barack Obama’s Washington, D.C. inauguration and Chicago victory party, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury Festival and Austin City Limits Music Festival, plus large-scale concerts and tours that have featured Muse, Black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Kenny Chesney and Ludacris. CSI also provided risk management to Lance Armstrong and The Radio Shack cycling team. In total, the company has placed coverage for over 10,000 concerts, 600 music festivals and 300 touring artists.

Cancer Survivor & Love Hope Strength Foundation Co-Founder
In March 2000, Chippendale was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia and was given a 50 percent chance of survival. Only through a generous bone marrow transplant from a German donor was he able to successfully beat cancer. Inspired by his battle, Chippendale launched the Love Hope Strength Foundation in 2006 with co-founder and fellow cancer survivor Mike Peters of the Welsh rock band The Alarm. LHS is the first-ever international, music-centric cancer charity that has provided free treatment to over 50,000 patients around the globe and set up cancer center projects in Nepal, Peru, the U.K. and throughout Africa. Their efforts have translated into more than 30,000 new potential bone marrow donors, over 100 matches and dozens of lives saved. LHSF is now one of the fastest growing cancer foundations in the world, having produced or been involved with over 300 events on all seven continents. Among its major achievements, Love Hope Strength has hosted the first-ever concerts at some of the world's highest points, including Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Fuji, Mt. Snowdon, Pike's Peak, Machu Picchu, Mt. Everest and atop New York City's Empire State Building.

Documentary Film Producer
Chippendale has produced two non-profit documentaries that go to support the LHSF:

"Everest Rocks" features the LHSF team, musicians, cancer survivors and mountaineers on a musical journey up Mt. Everest to raise money for a local cancer hospital in Nepal and set the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest concert on land. Produced by Alex Coletti in 2008, the documentary made it's television debut on Palladia, MTV’s elite high-definition music channel, and NBC Universal.
 

"More to Live For" is an award-winning documentary directed by Noah Hutton, producer and son of Timothy Hutton and Debra Winger, which has played at film and music festivals worldwide. "More to Live For" is the story of three lives, all shaken by cancer and dependent upon the one vital bone marrow match that could save them. The individuals are similar only in their fate and prolific accomplishments: Grammy Award-  winning jazz musician Michael Brecker; Seun Adebiyi, a young Nigerian training to become the first ever Nigerian winter Olympic athlete in any sport; and Chippendale.

Television Correspondent
Chippendale hosted a two-time Emmy-nominated lifestyle television segment called "Last Call with James Chippendale" during the sports show "Out of Bounds," which aired on the NBC affiliate in Dallas, TX. The segment showcased athletes, musicians or celebrities and their favorite place to eat, drink, dance, play or hang with friends and family. Some of the celebrities featured on the show include Grammy Award-winning singer Adele, The Saints’ Reggie Bush, Kim Kardashian, Indy 500 champion and "Dancing with the Stars" Season 5 winner Helio Castroneves and Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin.
 

Subject of Baylor Hospital Advertising Campaign
Chippendale was the subject of a massive television, billboard, print and online marketing campaign for Baylor Hospital Cancer Center. During the its two-year run, the campaign generated millions of media impressions.

Public Speaker
Chippendale has made more than 50 public speaking appearances on various topics, covering everything from his cancer battle and work with filmmaking nonprofit development to his industry expertise with his music insurance business.

Press Coverage
American Way magazine: "Preparing for the Worst"
New York Times: "A World Away, Finding a Lifeline and a Friend"

Born in Nigeria in 1984, Seun Adebiyi moved to Alabama with his mother when he was just six years old. Living an impoverished life while his mother taught school, Seun was an A student and a champion high school swimmer. Seun attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he distinguished himself as an outstanding student. He developed an answer to a math theorem that is still being studied today. But Seun’s love was law, and he graduated Yale Law School in 2009. Ever the athlete, Seun had a dream of becoming the first Nigerian to compete in the winter Olympic games. His choice of sport was the skeleton, a one person, head-first sled ride down a track of ice. Having completed his studies at Yale Law, he was about to embark on his Olympic training when he was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma and stem cell leukemia. He immediately began intensive chemotherapy, and was told he needed a bone marrow transplant to save his life. With no matches in the registry, Seun set a new goal for himself: to sign up 10,000 new donors to the bone marrow registry. As his most likely match would be from his home in Nigeria, Seun traveled to Africa, and ran the firstever bone marrow drive there.

Widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane, Michael Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Brecker has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into DownBeat’s Jazz Hall of Fame in 2007. During his career, he was in great demand as a soloist and sideman. He performed with musicians that spanned from jazz to rock. Notable pop artist collaborations include John Lennon, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Frank Zappa, and Frank Sinatra. Brecker also recorded and performed with leading jazz artists: Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, Pat Metheny and McCoy Tyner. With his brother Randy, they headlined the acclaimed band Dreams and The Brecker Brothers. Michael became a band leader himself in 1987, touring worldwide with various groups, including his big band, the Michael Brecker Quindectet. Altogether, he appeared on over 1,000 albums, either as a band leader, group member or guest soloist. In the summer of 2004, Brecker was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), an early form of leukemia. In need of a bone marrow transplant to save his life, Brecker searched in the International Bone Marrow Registry for a match. This prompted Michael’s wife and manager to organize a series of bone marrow drives throughout the world, including the Red Sea, Monterey, and Newport Jazz Festivals. By going public with his illness, Brecker raised tens of thousands of dollars for testing, and signed up many thousands of donors, but was unable to find a match for himself. At the present time, over 50 lives have been saved from the Michael Brecker Donor Pool. After an unsuccessful, experimental half-matched transplant in 2005, Brecker regained enough strength to record his final album, Pilgrimage, in August, 2006. Sadly, he did not live long enough to personally receive the 2 Grammys that Pilgrimage garnered in 2007. He passed away in January, 2007, after 2 1/2 years of living with leukemia. He was 57 years old. 
 
www.michaelbrecker.com