Doug spent most of his professional career in the ski industry. After 28 years of helping Bridger Bowl (a nonprofit community ski area) in Bozeman, Montana become one of the most successful in the industry, he has now combined his marketing and organizational skills with his passion for music. Having also helped create and chair a cultural tourism committee for a Montana tourism organization, Doug understands the power of music, personally and culturally. His master’s thesis in sport psychology involved studying the psychological and physiological effects of music during exercise.. As an industry expert on tourism, Doug understands the value of music as an economic engine as well as it’s vital role in reflecting the essence of a community’s culture. Underscoring Doug’s academic and professional knowledge of music is his personal love of performing as a percussionist. Being a student of Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms for over 35 years, and having performed for many audiences with numerous bands, Doug has invested himself into this project as a composer and musician in addition to project production. Starting with his first cultural tourism research trip to Cuba in 2011, Doug has networked throughout Cuba with some of their finest musicians and artists. With the very fortunate relationships he has made within Cuba’s music and art community, Doug has been compelled to share the richness of this experience by developing an intercultural music project to share with his community in Montana. Along with project partners, and professional musicians, Jake Fleming of Bozeman, Montana and Aquiles Jorge of Santiago de Cuba, they represent the core of the Montana~Havana Bridge Project. Together they are working as intercultural ambassadors promoting friendship, partnership and peace through their collaborative efforts to compose, record and perform new American-Cuban music.