L. Eric White, known to his friends and colleagues as Rick, has lived, traveled and worked around the world. In his position as vice president & senior producer, Rick brings to the Festival Network a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the entertainment industry, as well as in event and life-style marketing.
In the field of entertainment he has collaborated with many top performers and groups from around the globe. Over the past 35 plus years, Rick White has been active as a producer, artist manager, tour & production manager, concert & recording engineer and musician. In these capacities, he has worked with hundreds of artists, among them, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Santana, Tony Bennett, B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker, Kenny Chesney, Caetano Veloso, Betty Carter, Eddie Palmieri, Michel Petrucciani, Al Jarreau, Sadao Watanabe, Rod Stewart, Cassandra Wilson, David Sanborn, Terumasa Hino, Kenny G, the Brecker Brothers, Tania Maria, Lionel Richie, and Tito Puente. Along with working in the studio and on stage, Rick has been involved in the production of numerous television music shows in Europe, Asia and the United States.
In 1976, Rick began his association with George Wein and Festival Productions, Inc. (FPI), as a freelance stage manager for the Kool Jazz Festival–New York. Then, over the next several years, in the capacity of artist manager, tour manager, production manager or engineer, Rick brought artists to Wein’s festivals worldwide. Working with FPI between 1986 and 1989, he produced over 200 free outdoor concerts; many attracting between 75,000-100,000 people, and over 400 associated special events around the United States and the Caribbean for the highly successful Miller Sound Express and Miller Genuine Draft Maquina Musical programs. Artists such as Keith Sweat, Levert, Tony! Toni! Tone! and others who performed at these shows went on to become leading recording stars.
In 1991, Rick became a full-time member of the Festival Productions staff. Again, on behalf of the Miller Brewing Co., he produced the Miller Lite Electric Slide concert series nationwide. In the same year, he produced the first Sarah Vaughn Jazz Festival in Ms. Vaughn’s birthplace, Newark (NJ), Rosemary Clooney’s first headlining concert at Carnegie Hall, and the initial American Express Gold Card Grammy Festival (a nationwide concert and educational program). Over the years, Rick has produced festivals and events at home and abroad for a variety of sponsors among them JVC, Verizon, Altria (Benson & Hedges and Merit), Toyota and the Bermuda Department of Tourism.
In the realm of life-style marketing, Rick White created and produced scores of marquee events on behalf of and in conjunction with major corporations. These events have taken place all over the United States and globally for corporations ranging in diversity. They include: the American Express and Merrill Lynch companies, Altria (formerly Philip Morris Companies), the National Football League, National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS), Ryder Cup and the Indianapolis 500. Many of the key American Express’ Platinum Card By Invitation Only events that Rick White created are still part of the program. While the Membership Miles Global Rewards program Rick helped create became the template for the American Express Membership Rewards program.
In the world of academics, in 2003 Mr. White was invited by Columbia University to join its Center for Jazz Studies under the Department of English & Comparative Literature. It should be noted that Columbia is the only Ivy League school that has jazz as part of its core curriculum.
Rick is also directly involved with community and other programs. He is a voting member of NARAS and sits on the sponsorship committee for the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce and serves on the entertainment advisory committees for the Harlem Jazz & Music Festival and National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame.
In addition to producing concerts and festivals in the U.S. and overseas, Rick works closely with members of the company’s staff helping to develop new ideas, events and strategic partnerships for the Festival Network.
And, whenever time permits, he can usually be found playing tennis or golf.
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