2023 Adjudicators

2023 Adjudicators

Meet the adjudicators for the 2023 National Jazz Festival at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on April 22, 2023. Check out their Bios!

Jeff Kunkel

Adjudication Coordinator

Wilbur Wittemann

Adjudication Coordinator

Marc Dicciani

Jeff Kunkel

Dr. Jeffrey Kunkel served for 22 years as a faculty member of the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. During his time at MSU, he acted as the Associate Director for Faculty of the Cali School, Coordinator of Undergraduate Music Education, the Coordinator of Jazz Studies and Director of the MSU Jazz Ensemble. Jeff, a composer and pianist, recently retired from full-time teaching. In 2008, Jeff won the prestigious New Jersey Jazz Education Achievement Award.
His albums Meu Coração Brasileiro and Many Happy Returns showcase his love of Brazilian jazz.
Jeff was a four term president and is a board member of the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education. He frequently serves as a clinician and adjudicator. Jeff is an alumnus of Penn State University (1982 and 1995), and of New England Conservatory (1984). 

Wilbur Wittemann

Wilbur is one of the country’s most requested clinicians, festival judges, guest conductors and teacher professional development presenters. 
Wilbur Wittemann Orchestras perform all styles of music. He has been arranging and coordinating successful concert series and music festivals for over 30 years. 
He has received the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the New Jersey Association of Jazz Educators. During his 32 years as a Middle School Band director he was selected “Teacher of the Year” two times and was a finalist for the prestigious Princeton University Scholar Award. 
Wilbur has conducted and performed with musicians including: Jose Feliciano, Little Anthony, The Platters, Dizzy Gillespie, MaynardFerguson, Arturo Sandoval, Slide Hampton, Louis Bellson, Bill Watrous, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Dave Weckl, Butch Miles, Wayne Bergeron and the Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestras. 

Marc Dicciani

Marc Dicciani is a Professor of Drumset at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and a very busy performer, teacher, clinician, and researcher.
He’s played with a wide range of artists including Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, Robin Eubanks, Pat Martino, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ben Vereen, Tom Jones, Lou Rawls, Roger Daltrey, Moody Blues, the Spinners, Natalie Cole, Mel Tormé, the Honolulu, Nashville, Philadelphia, and National Symphony Orchestras, and the Boston Pops; recorded for network TV/film in L.A. including NBC, CBS, the Tonight Show, two telecasts of the Golden Globe
Awards; and presented drumset clinics at countless schools, Universities, and conferences around the world. During the summer, he teaches the nation’s only graduate drumset course for music educators on the campus of Villanova University.
He was recently awarded the prestigious Drumset Education Legacy Award by Yamaha Drums, named Artist-in-Residence at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Health Design Lab to research the healing and restorative powers of drumming, and named to the Scholarly Research Committee of the Percussive Arts Society. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Music Alliance, and has been with the Grammy organization (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences) for more than 25 years.
Marc’s articles and research are regularly published in leading magazines including Modern Drummer and Percussive Notes, and his podcasts and interviews can be seen on many websites in addition his own. He is an artist/clinician for Yamaha Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Vic Firth Drumsticks, Remo Drumheads, and Latin Percussion. Contact him on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and at www.dicciani.com
Marc is an Advisory Board Member of the NJF.

Matt Gallagher

Chris Farr

Mike Tomaro

Matt Gallagher

Matt is the prototypical lead trumpet player with extensive credits with professional bands and orchestras up and down the east coast. He is a Yamaha Trumpet Artist and he has performed with several Broadway show productions and artists including The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Boston Symphony, The Baltimore Symphony, Diana Krall, Hugh Jackman, Michael Buble, and Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band to name a few.
Matt is currently the principal trumpet player for The Philly Pops Orchestra, Broadway Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, and is the lead trumpet player substitute with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Matt is the Music Director of the Philly Pops Big Band which debuted in 2017, and Matt is the studio lead trumpet player at NFL Films in Mt. Laurel, NJ.
Matt is equally committed to both performing and teaching. Matt is the“Z” Big Band director, trumpet department chair, and music education professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

Chris Farr

Since earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of the Arts, saxophonist Chris Farr has been a been a highly sought after performer, arranger and educator. Chris is currently a full time professor at UArts, where he serves as the undergraduate instrumental division head.

Throughout his career he has performed, toured and recorded with the likes of Rihanna, Sting, John Legend, The Roots, Maynard Ferguson & Big Bop Nouveau, Randy Brecker, Eminem, Chaka Kahn, Mariah Carey, Gerald Veasley, Blood Sweat & Tears, Elvis Costello, Jill Scott, the Philly Pops, Terrell Stafford, the Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra, The Pennsylvania Ballet, and many more. Chris also performed on the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show with Shakira and Jennifer Lopez and is an artist/clinician and endorser of Andreas Eastman saxophones.

Mike Tomaro

Mike Tomaro has been the Director of the Jazz Studies Program at the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA since 1997.  He is an accomplished saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator. He earned his B.S. degree in Music Education from Duquesne University and his M.A. degree in Saxophone Performance from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.  For 17 years, he was a member of the Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, a unit of the prestigious “Pershing’s Own” U.S. Army Band.  He served as its Enlisted Musical Director and performed for presidents and heads of state from around the world.  Mike is a Yamaha Performing Artist and endorses Vandoren reeds, mouthpieces and ligatures exclusively.  

As a performer, Mike has worked with such diverse artists and groups as Rosemary Clooney, Ray Charles, Michael Feinstein, Linda Ronstadt, Debby Boone, Johnny Mathis, Wayne Bergeron, Terence Blanchard, Louis Bellson, Terry Gibbs, Dizzy Gillespie Tribute Big Band, Woody Herman Orchestra and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, where he is featured on their DVD, “Live at MCG.”  Mike is the co-artistic director and lead alto player of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, the city’s premier big band.

Mike has four nationally released recordings under his own name that showcase his talents as both performer and composer/arranger  – “Dancing Eyes” (Seabreeze Jazz), “Home Again” (Positive Music), “Forgotten Dreams” (Seabreeze Jazz) and “Nightowl Suite” (Seabreeze Jazz).  Additionally, Mike has also been featured on many other CDs as performer and/or arranger, most notably on Nancy Wilson’s last two Grammy Award winning releases, “Turned To Blue” and “RSVP,” the Bob Mintzer Big Band’s Grammy nominated release, “For The Moment,” Ann Hampton Callaway’s “The Hope Of Christmas,” New York Voices’, “A Day Like This,” Sheryl Bailey’s “A New Promise” and the 21st Century Swing Band’s “Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy,” all on the MCG Jazz label.  On the last two releases, Mike is prominently featured as the main arranger as well as a soloist. 

Mike’s music has been performed by many greats, including David Liebman, Wayne Bergeron, Ivan Lins, Claudio Roditi, Mike Stern, Ernie Watts, Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker, New York Voices, Al Vizzutti, as well as high schools, colleges and universities.  His orchestral arrangements have been performed by the Pittsburgh and National Symphony Orchestras.  He has over two hundred published compositions and arrangements. Additionally, Mike has co-authored the textbook “Instrumental Jazz Arranging: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide” (Hal Leonard Publications).

Mike is affiliated with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers where he has received several ASCAP Plus awards, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), Jazz Education Network (JEN) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME).  Mike is in great demand both nationally and internationally as a guest soloist, adjudicator, and clinician.  For more information on his activities, visit his website at www.miketomaro.com. 

Micah Jones

Steve Uibel

Mark Allen

Micah Jones

Micah Jones is the Dean of the School of Music at The University of the Arts. Having received his Master’s degree from UArts, Micah enjoys educating future contributors to the arts community in this city, and hopes that this position helps him to do just that.
Micah has performed in concert and club settings with Terence Blanchard, Randy Brecker, Patti LaBelle, Ben Vereen, and performed for over twenty years with the Don Glanden Trio. Micah has produced two recordings with his wife, vocalist Tiffany Jones, and continues to perform and record in the region.

Steve Uibel

Steve Uibel has been an educator and freelance musician in the New
Jersey/Pennsylvania area for the past 40 years. A graduate of Towson State
University where he studied in the jazz department under Hank Levy, his public school music education career included direction of high school ensembles in the Willingboro and Lenape Regional districts (New Jersey) as well as middle school ensembles and music facilitator duties in the Haddonfield (NJ) School District.

Steve has served as a jazz ensemble adjudicator and clinician at the local,
regional and state levels in New Jersey for more than 40 years. He also holds a
Masters degree in Educational Administration from Rider University.
His forty-five year freelance trumpet career includes performances with a variety of ensembles and artists throughout the tri-state region. He has had the pleasure of performing with Manhattan Transfer, Hugh Jackman, Phil Woods, Patti Austin, Marvin Hamlisch, Arturo Sandoval, Clark Terry, Slide Hampton, Peter Nero with the Philly Pops and the Lakewood Jazz Ensemble.

Mark Allen

Mark Allen currently serves as the head of the Saxophone/Woodwind
department at the University of the Arts, where he also teaches the
History of Jazz and Music Theory. Allen is an active member of the Philly
Pops (bass clarinet/woodwinds), the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia, and
several other Philadelphia/New York ensembles. He has performed with
the likes of Marcus Belgrave, Tony Bennett, Orrin Evans, George Garzone, Benny Golson, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Lady Gaga and Dick Oatts, among others. In addition to being an in demand theater musician for numerous touring Broadway productions, he continues to amass classical performance credits, including performances on piccolo, clarinets, and saxophones with the Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001, and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.

Matt Davis

Kat Reinhert

Gunnar Mossblad

Matt Davis

Matt Davis is a guitarist, teacher, and composer based in Philadelphia. Hailed as “Inspired” by Downbeat magazine and “eloquent” by Jazztimes Magazine, Matt’s compelling style has earned him awards and honors from ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, Chamber Music America, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Matt serves as Adjunct Associate Professor and is Chair of the Guitar Department at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He has shared the stage with notable musicians such as Odean Pope, Mickey Roker, Dave Liebman, John Swana, Terrell Stafford, Jon Hollenbeck, and many others. He has performed and taught workshops across the US, Europe, Asia, as well as Mexico and Canada. For more information visit www.mattdavisguitar.com

Kat Reinhert

Kat Reinhert, PhD, is an experienced songwriter, vocalist, educator and writer.
She has released five independent albums as well as sung on multiple projects
and recordings and has appeared with such noted artists as Enya, Raul Midon,
Anat Fort, Jo Lawry, Dave Cook, and Shayna Steele. Her fifth self-produced full-
length album alongside her longtime collaborators Perry Smith, Jesse Lewis,
Matt Aronoff and Ross Pederson, Dead Reckoning, came out to critical acclaim
in February of 2021, with subsequent singles being released in August (Behind)
and November (Hiding in the Dark).
She is the Immediate Past President of The Association for Popular Music
Education, as well as a published author, having co-edited Action Based
Approaches in Popular Music Education alongside Steve Holley & Zack Moir.
Reinhert also has a chapter on teaching voice in higher education in The
Bloomsbury Handbook of Popular Music Education, an article on songwriting in The Journal of Popular Music Education, and several chapters on songwritingand voice in several upcoming books on popular music.
Reinhert is the co-founder of Songwriting for Music Educators, a company
dedicated to empowering music educators through the craft of songwriting. She holds a BM in Jazz/Commercial Voice from The Manhattan School of Music, an MM in Jazz Performance/Pedagogy from The University of Miami Frost School of Music a PhD in Music Education from the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where she was also the Director of Contemporary Voice from 2017-2019.
Reinhert is currently a full time Full Professor of Songwriting at Berklee College
of Music in Boston as well as BerkleeNYC in New York. In addition to teaching,
she is currently working on a new EP of original music all written during the
pandemic, with the first single set to be released in fall of 2023.

Gunnar Mossblad

Dr Terry Rowlyk

Steven Bishop

Allison Spann

Dr Terry Rowlyk

Dr. W. Terry Rowlyk has been a music educator at Ridley Middle School and in the Ridley School District for over 30 years.
Born and raised in Ridley Park, Dr. Rowlyk has attended Penn State University and Temple University where he received his PhD in Music Education. Dr. Rowlyk is an avid saxophone, clarinet, and flute performer in the Philadelphia region. 

As an author, his works include: Pathways To Parker; The Improvisational Patterns of Charlie Parker (Treble Clef)Pathways To Parker; The Improvisational Patterns of Charlie Parker (Bass Clef) and Jazz For The Music Educator. 

Dr. Rowlyk is also the owner and operator of IQInstrumentRentals.com LLC.

Steven Bishop

Steven Bishop is the Arranger/Orchestrator for the upcoming Broadway shows, GENIUS and SOLANA, both penned by Heitzman & Reid. He was the Musical Supervisor and Musical Computer Designer for the National tours of THE COLOR PURPLE, and SPAMALOT, and the Conductor for the First National Tour of DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, and for the world famous recording artist, Barry Manilow. Among his many New York credits, Mr. Bishop was the
Conductor/Musical Director and Orchestrator for the off-Broadway run of BINGO!, for which he produced, and engineered the original cast recording. Other credits include co-authoring the critically acclaimed, completely reimagined revivals of CAMELOT and RAGTIME which were seen throughout North America. His arrangements for television have been heard on The Today Show, AMC, Discovery, TNN’s Nashville Now, and Bobby Jones Gospel Hour. Commercial jingle clients have included Hallmark, Jordache, Bonanza, and Honda. In addition, he has had the privilege of working with other such artists as Gladys Knight, Pat Boone, BJ Crosby, Lou Rawls, K.D. Lang, Deborah
Gibson, Frankie Avalon, and Michael Bolton, to name a few.

Allison Spann

Allison Spann is a Brooklyn-based performance creator who believes in the power of voice and collaborative art-making as radical tools for healing. She is a multi-genre vocalist, actor, composer, music director, sound designer, and director. Winner of the Princeton Concerto Competition, recipient of the Richardson Auditorium Artist in Residency, semifinalist at the O’Neill’s National Music Theater Conference, and winner of the Edward T. Cone Prize for music composition, performance, and scholarship, Spann has reached audiences from The Kennedy Center, La Maison Symphonique de Montréal, and jazz clubs around the globe. She has worked as a soloist with Gustavo Dudamel, Laurie Anderson, Bobby McFerrin, Archie Shepp, Billy Childs, Roomful of Teeth, and Darcy James Argue, among others. Spann shares her passion for education in her private music studio, where she teaches beginners and professionals alike. Her new series, Earth Song, teaches group voicework to inspire collective advocacy and activism surrounding the climate crisis. Spann holds a BA in music from Princeton University (magna cum laude).

www.allisonspann.com