Brooke Wentz is an American record producer and music director. She has served as a music director for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

. She was also the recipient of the

Billboard Music Award The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

for the best world music album in 1994, ''Global Meditation - Authentic Music from Meditative Traditions of the World''.

Education

Wentz graduated ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'' from

Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...

. She also graduated with an M.B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

Wentz began her career in the 1980s as a public radio host for stations such as New York's

WKCR-FM WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...

, where she hosted the music program ''Transfigured Night''. She eventually became new music director of

WKCR WKCR-FM (89.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to New York, New York, United States. The station is owned by Columbia University and serves the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1941, the station traces its history back to 1908 with the fir ...

. After her career in public radio, Wentz served as Manager of A&R Administration at

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

. While visiting the FESPACO Film Festival in

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

, Wentz was an eyewitness to the events of the 1991 Malian coup d'etat alongside Malian musician

Salif Keita Salif Keïta () (born 25 August 1949) is a Malian singer-songwriter, referred to as the "Golden Voice of Africa". He is a member of the Keita royal family of Mali. Biography Early life Salif Keita was born a traditional prince in the village o ...

. She wrote about the incident in an article for the music periodical ''The Beat''. In 1992, Wentz produced the compilation album ''Global Meditation''. The album featured meditative music from several world religious traditions. Global Meditation went on to win the

for best world music album in 1994. In 1994, Wentz produced another compilation album of African music, titled ''Africa: Never Stand Still''. In 1995, Wentz also produced the compilation album ''Global Divas'', which featured contributions from female artists such as

Patsy Cline Patsy is a given name often used as a diminutive of the feminine given name Patricia or sometimes the masculine name Patrick, or occasionally other names containing the syllable "Pat" (such as Cleopatra, Patience, Patrice, or Patricia). Among I ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Lydia Mendoza Lydia Mendoza (May 31, 1916December 20, 2007) was a Mexican-American guitarist and singer of Tejano and traditional Mexican-American music. Historian Michael Joseph Corcoran has stated that she was "The Mother of Tejano Music", an art form tha ...

, and

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

. The album was produced to promote the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women. By 1996, Wentz had become the music director of

. Wentz was one of the first music directors who licensed music for the X Games and supervised a compilation album for the event. In 2000, Wentz also served as the music producer for New York City's

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

Millennium Celebration. In 2002, Wentz founded the music supervision company The Rights Workshop. The Rights Workshop has provided music for film and television productions including ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from el, µέλαινα χολή ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly dep ...

'', ''

Bill Cunningham New York ''Bill Cunningham New York'' is a 2010 American documentary film directed by Richard Press and produced by Philip Gefter. ''Bill Cunningham New York'' is distributed by Zeitgeist Films and was released in theaters on March 16, 2011. Synopsis "We a ...

'', and ''Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey''. In 2007, Wentz's first book, ''Hey, That's My Music! Music Supervision, Licensing, and Content Acquisition'' was published by

Hal Leonard Books Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...

. Wentz founded Seven Seas Music in 2014.Women who lead: San Francisco music firm's owners sail the Seven Seas
Seven Seas Music has licensed music for use films such as the films ''No Escape'' and ''Knight of Cups'', as well as the television series ''Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown'' and ''Criminal Minds''. Wentz's second book, ''Music Rights Unveiled: A Filmmaker's Guide to Music Rights and Licensing'', was published in 2017 by

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

. She co-wrote the book in collaboration with Maryam Battaglia.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wentz, Brooke Living people American record producers Barnard College alumni Columbia Business School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)