This year’s Jazz Port Townsend saw a passing of the baton from John Clayton to Dawn Clement as its artistic director.

Clement comes from serving as an associate professor and area coordinator of the Jazz and American Improvised Music Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Robert Birman, executive director of Centrum, touted Clement’s bona fides as “a sought-after guest artist and clinician for jazz festivals, all-state band programs, and jazz camps around the country.”

Clement has appeared as an artist educator at the Port Townsend Jazz Workshop, Reno Jazz Fest, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Jazz Camp West, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and the UNC-Greeley Jazz Festival.

For Clement it all started as an 11th-grade student at Vancouver High School, and she’s been coming back to Centrum nearly every year since.

Now 45 years old, Clement has long regarded Centrum as a region-spanning hub of talent in the field of musical performance and musical education. She credits it with helping keep a broad network of musical artists connected with each other, and even fostering creative collaborations between them.

Clement cited Grammy-nominated jazz drummer Matt Wilson as but one of the many Centrum faculty members who helped “change the trajectory” of her career and life.

“The world of music is so close-knit that, especially if you’re in a field such as jazz, you have neighbors around the globe,” Clement said.

Although Jazz Port Townsend draws no shortage of performers and mentors from fairly far afield, Clement noted the importance of sustaining activity and enthusiasm beyond the annual event.

“One of John Clayton’s many strengths was that he kept that spark of wisdom and inspiration going throughout the rest of the year,” Clement said.

Not only does Clement see Jazz Port Townsend as virtually unparalleled among such festivals throughout the region, but her goal is to continue to develop it as a resource for accomplished and aspiring musicians alike, maintaining its “finger on the pulse” of the jazz scene.

“We’re uniquely poised to take that on,” Clement said. “I love the prospect of committing to this place, because of how much it’s done for me. I’ve already spent more than half of my life here.”

Clement believes that Centrum programs such as Jazz Port Townsend can constitute a societal good, given how much they can contribute to the surrounding community. She takes seriously the responsibilities that she’s stepping into, since Clayton has left her with “big shoes to fill.”

Clement added, “I deeply respect what John has already done, and I’m grateful and humbled by the opportunity to help shape the role of this program going forward.”

Gwen Franz, program manager for jazz, chamber music and choro (a Brazilian music genre) at Centrum, spoke highly of both Jazz Port Townsend’s outgoing and incoming artistic directors.

“Working with John Clayton has been one of the coolest and most rewarding things I’ve ever been privileged to do,” Franz said. “He has been a magnet, drawing world-class artists here every year.”

Franz praised Clayton’s “committed encouragement to all the participants, young and old,” which she said has created “an inclusive, familial-like community amongst diverse people who love jazz,” but she also asserted that the transition to Clement “feels exactly right.”

Franz described Clement as “a highly respected artist in the jazz world, and beloved in our Port Townsend jazz family,” thereby making her “the perfect person to carry on John’s legacy, and evolve Jazz Port Townsend into its next era.”