Scott Mertens (instructor) is a pianist, educator, and composer/arranger in northern Illinois. He has a bachelor's degree in music education from the University of Missouri-Columbia. His master’s degree in music is from Northern Illinois University. Scott has written jazz charts for Jim Martin's pdfjazzmusic.com site, and he was a contributing author for Teaching Music Through Performance in Jazz. He currently performs in the Chicago area and has been a member of the Doug Stone/Doug Bratt Big Band. He was the director of the NIU Community School of the Arts Jazz Band, and has been a clinician at jazz festivals across the Midwest. He has worked extensively with middle and high school jazz bands, and is a band director in Sycamore, Illinois. He has worked with the NIU Jazz Camp for many years.