Founder, Chris “Ifatoye” Theberge
Chris is a Grammy nominated musician/entrepreneur with decades of experience in international performance, music production, marketing/tech joint ventures, cultural/event curation, and studio/label ownership and management.
He is a founding member of the internationally renowned, Grammy-nominated jazz group Groove Collective, slated to perform at Cuba’s 40th annual 2025 Havana Jazz Plaza Festival.
Chris currently serves as Director of The Bowery Jazz Messengers, a NYC-based non-profit that helps high-school jazz musicians develop their craft while being of service, performing for the homeless and migrant communities in NYC’s.
In 2018 Music Works production/label, in partnership with Sendero Music in Matanzas, won Cuba’s prestigious national Cubadisco award for Ilú Keké: Transmisión en la Erita Meta. The project is the historic recorded musical account of one of the oldest sets of Bata drums on the island and the African descendants & culture surrounding it.
He is currently producing projects in Cuba and Nigeria and curates “House of Drums”, an ongoing live event series celebrating Afro-descendant music & culture in New York City.
info@musicworksnyc.com