Kansas City and All That Jazz
Feb 23, 2024
Dr. Dina Bennett, American Jazz Museum
Kansas City and All That Jazz

Dr. Dina M. Bennett is the Director of Collections and Curatorial Affairs at the American Jazz Museum in Kansas City, Missouri, a member of the Smithsonian Institution Affiliation Program. The mission of the American Jazz Museum is to celebrate and exhibit the experience of jazz as an original American art form through performance, exhibition, education, and research at one of the country's jazz crossroads – 18th & Vine. Bennett is responsible for overseeing the permanent collection and institutional archives of the museum, including all loans and temporary exhibits.

Prior to this position, Bennett spent three years as the Founding Curatorial Director of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.

As an ethnomusicologist, Bennett specializes in African American music-culture and has honed her expertise in telling the story of African American music and its various genres through her curatorial work in music museums. With years of experience in exhibition design, she brings a strong understanding of storytelling and the importance of establishing the historical and cultural context for interpretation.

Bennett is a native of Topeka, Kansas. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Washburn University, a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology with a minor in African American & African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University. WhiBennett has over 30 years’ experience in the music field and is an accomplished pianist.