Victor Goines, a New Orleans native, is an acclaimed jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and educator who began on clarinet at age eight before adding saxophone in high school, inspired by local legends like Ellis Marsalis. A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans and Virginia Commonwealth University, he has been a key member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993, contributing to major recordings including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Blood on the Fields and collaborating with icons such as Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, Stevie Wonder, and Bob Dylan. A prolific composer with over 200 works and a bandleader with ten albums, Goines has also played a major role in jazz education, leading programs at Juilliard and Northwestern University before becoming President & CEO of Jazz St. Louis from 2022 -2026.