Meet the adjudicators for the 2024 National Jazz Festival at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on February 10, 2024. Check out their Bios!
Dr Jeff Kunkel
Adjudication Coordinator
Wilbur Wittemann
Adjudication Coordinator
Marc Dicciani
Dr 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.
Ron DiDinato
Nick Lombardelli
Doug Heyburn
Ron DiDinato
A graduate of West Chester University, Ron DiDonato spent 30 years in public education. During that time, he served as Director of Bands at both the high school and middle school levels. He has had award-winning school ensembles and musicians under his direction. He has also directed several honors ensembles as well as the NJ All Region jazz bands. He has been an active member of SJBODA, NJAJE and the Percussive Arts Society. Mr. DiDonato has been performing in the tristate area for over 40 years and has played drums with the Lakewood Jazz Ensemble, now the Wilbur Wittemann Big Band, for over 30 years. Ron has performed with great local jazz musicians such as Dennis DeBlasio, Dave Pollack and Bob Gravener. He has also performed with Arturo Sanduval, Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Phil Woods, Louis Bellson, Bob Mintzer, Randy Brecker, Dave Wekle, and Wayne Bergeron.
He is recently retired from public school education but continues to work with music students through his affiliation with Music and Arts as an instructor and through his clinics and adjudication of jazz festivals.
Nick Lombardelli
Bio coming soon
Doug Heyburn
Doug Heyburn was the Director of Choral Activities at West Milford High School from 1995 to 2023. While at West Milford, he taught Concert Choir, Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorus, Vocal Jazz, Harmony & Theory, Piano and Guitar. He was the recipient of the West Milford School District Teacher of the Year, the Passaic County Teacher of The Year, as well as having received the Governors Teacher Recognition Award. His choirs have performed at Carnegie Hall four times and were chosen to perform with the legendary rock band, Foreigner at the same venue. He and his wife Maria, a Broadway show veteran, directed and choreographed the musicals at West Milford for 15 years where they received nominations for best director, best choreography and best show among others from the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards. His vocal jazz ensembles have won first place at the Berklee Jazz Festival in Boston Ma., the Roxbury Choral Invitational, Music In The Parks, and the New Jersey State Vocal Jazz Festival. Mr. Heyburn has been active with NJAJE for many years and has conducted both the North and Central New Jersey Region Jazz Choirs. In 2023, he was the recipient of the New Jersey Outstanding Jazz Educator Award. He holds a Masters Degree in Music Education and lives in Butler New Jersey with his wife and three boys.
Sherrie Maricle
Steve Uibel
Mark Allen
Sherrie Maricle
Dr. Sherrie Maricle is the Co-Coordinator of the Drum Set Department at the University of the Arts. From the drum set Sherrie leads The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, her quintet FIVE PLAY and co-leads the 3D Jazz Trio. She is also a busy freelance performer, a published composer/arranger and a dedicated educator, clinician, guest conductor and soloist. With her bands Sherrie has performed at many of the world’s most acclaimed music venues and
festivals, from Lincoln Center to the Hollywood Bowl, to Jazz Festivals in Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Ireland, Croatia, Japan, Vietnam, Israel and beyond. Additionally Sherrie and DIVA were featured at the 2017 NEA Jazz Master’s Awards Ceremony, on the soundtrack for the NBC-Macy’s Fireworks Spectacular and on TCM’s broadcast of the 25th Anniversary of the Kennedy
Center. The band also co-stars in the award-winning documentary film The Girls in the Band. Sherrie has received several awards and honors which include the 2023 Yamaha Music in Education, Legacy Award 2022 Ronald McDonald House – New York’s Music for Hope award; 2014 Ovation award for “Best Music Direction” in Tappin Thru Life; the 2009 Mary Lou Williams-Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sherrie runs a private drum set studio and from coast-to-coast she serves as a guest conductor, soloist, and adjudicator for collegiate and high school jazz festivals.
In 2000 Sherrie earned a PhD in Jazz performance and composition from New York University. Sherrie’s recent recordings include The DIVA Jazz Orchestra “30” (2023), The 3D Jazz Trio 9 to 5 (2022) and FIVE PLAY “LIVE” at The Firehouse Stage (2019).
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
Saxophonist and multi-woodwind player Mark Allen has been an active member of the Philadelphia music scene for over a decade. A native of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Allen was asked to join the faculty at the University of the Arts upon graduating with his master’s degree. He currently serves as the head of UArts’ Saxophone/Woodwind department and teaches private lessons, a sax quartet, small jazz ensembles, the history of jazz, and music theory. His
primary goal as an instructor of the saxophone is to teach the sort of versatility required to succeed in the ever-evolving 21st century music industry, while always paying respect to tradition.
Mark has had the privilege of studying with Chris Farr, Joel Frahm, Ron Kerber, Ben Schachter and Joe Temperley. Though often seen and heard performing regularly on several woodwind instruments, he specializes in the baritone saxophone, an instrument he has focused on mastering since the first time he heard Gerry Mulligan and Pepper Adams as a boy. Allen’s unique take on this underappreciated instrument has allowed him to share the stage and/or
record with luminaries including Marcus Belgrave, Tony Bennett, Orrin Evans, George Garzone, Benny Golson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jimmy Heath, Lady Gaga and Dick Oatts, among others.
Mark was an active member of the Philly Pops, and now re-titled the ‘No-Name Pops Orchestra’ performing on bass clarinet and woodwinds. He also plays with the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and several other Philadelphia/New York ensembles. Mark’s classical performance credits include performances on piccolo, clarinets and saxophones with the Pennsylvania Ballet orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001 and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. He is also active in the Philadelphia theater scene as a
woodwind player, performing on saxophones, flutes and clarinets and regularly playing at Philadelphia’s storied Academy of Music in touring Broadway productions.
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
GUNNAR MOSSBLAD is well known as a both a jazz and classical saxophonist, as well as a composer and educator. His collaborations with jazz masters such as Dave Liebman, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Cobb, Randy Brecker, and many others have enriched his unique voice on the saxophone and as a composer. His performing and compositions can be heard on numerous recordings including his award winning Gunnar Mossblad & CrossCurrents (SUMMIT DCD-587), R.S.V.P. (SUMMIT DCD-662), Monk, A NYC Tribute (Jazz ‘n’ Arts JnA6112), The Seasons Reflected (Soul Note 121345-2), and with the Dave Liebman Big Band on the Grammy Nominated recording, Live…As Always (MAMA Records MAA-1039) and Tribute To Wayne Shorter (MAMA 1047), and finally the Manhattan Saxophone Ensemble’s The Dogwalk (GPC-1023). He also serves as the Musical and Education Director and member of the internationally acclaimed David Liebman Big Band as well as the Manhattan Saxophone Ensemble. He has also been fortunate to premiere 20th and 21st century Classical pieces written by award winning composers including Gunther Schuller, Jon Harbison, Libby Larsen, Larry Nelson, and many more, and has performed with the Fort Worth, Dallas, Roanoke, Toledo, and National Symphonies.
He has written numerous compositions and arrangements for a wide variety of ensembles. In addition to the project mentioned above, He has written classical and jazz commissions for a variety of chamber groups, production music for television productions, industrial and indie films, and recently a full symphony orchestra with big band. His compositional style might best be described as a blending of traditional compositional techniques with both contemporary and chromatic harmony. He is published by Houston Publishing, LeMoine Music, FJH Music Company, and Jazz Aebersold. He was a regular contributor to the now defunct Saxophone Journal as well as Jazz Player magazine.
After earning a B.M. in Jazz Studies and an M.M. in Saxophone Performance from the famed University of North Texas, Gunnar has held Professorships at three Universities over the last 35 years. James Madison University, West Chester University, and is currently Professor of Music at the University of Toledo. He is a clinician for the CONN-SELMER Company, Elkhart, Indiana, and endorses the Silverstein Saxophone Ligatures.
Amy Cervini
Cindy Wald
Elizabeth Radigonda
Amy Cervini
Singer Amy Cervini has the big ears and free spirit to reach far and wide for great material, whether it’s Rodgers & Hammerstein or Lyle Lovett, Blossom Dearie or Willie Nelson. The Toronto-bred, New York-based vocalist has released five solo albums and is currently recording for NYC-based Anzic Records. These albums have established Cervini as one of the more individual talents on the North American scene for her intrepid sense of song and pure-toned, ever-swinging vocalism. Cervini was included in the Rising Star Downbeat Critics poll for multiple years. The New York Times has enthused over her as “a thoughtful and broad-minded jazz singer,” while All Music Guide recommends her recordings for the “honest, self-assured and honey-dripping presence clearly heard.” Amy is also 1/3 of the award-winning and highly acclaimed vocal group, Duchess. In addition to her work as a vocalist, Amy is also making a name for herself as a producer. She recently produced the Juno nominated album, Joy by Ernesto Cervini and multiple podcasts for the Peabody Award Winning company, GZM Shows. In addition, Amy is co-owner of TPR Records and Wooden Bird Productions. www.amycervini.com
Cindy Wald
Cindy Wald has been teaching for over 35 Years and in that time has produced numerous award winning jazz choir. She has had the honor of directing the New Jersey state jazz choir for three years. She started her musical career as a professional singer and trumpet player, performing throughout the United States as a solo artists and playing for numerous national acts. She is recently retired from her position of vocal music teacher at Donovan Catholic High School. She continues to teach vocal lessons and direct community choirs.
Elizabeth Radigonda
Elizabeth Radigonda is an Associate Professor, and program director of the voice department at the University of the Arts. Elizabeth teaches musicianship, vocal improvisation, private lessons, and runs ensembles. She is actively involved in PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) as an adjudicator for All State Vocal Ensembles and conducted the PMEA All State Jazz Choir in April 2022. Prior to that, in April 2018 Elizabeth conducted the District 7 Regional Jazz Choir for PMEA. In March 2019, Elizabeth was a guest artist for the Penn State Jazz Festival and performs with her duo and quintet group around the Philadelphia area. Elizabeth is also an active clinician working with organizations such as the Berks County Get JazzEd festival, the Key of She festival, Penn State University, and several high schools across Pennsylvania. Elizabeth published her first article in the PMEA Journal in April 2016 entitled
“Jazz Phrasing for Young Vocal Students: Teaching young singers how to rhythmically stylize a jazz standard in 4 easy steps”.
Dr Terry Rowlyk
Steven Bishop
Dr Anthony Branker
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.
Dr Anthony Branker
Dr. Anthony Branker is an adjunct professor in jazz studies at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts and was previously the founding/director of the program in jazz studies at Princeton University, where he held the Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies and was a faculty member for 27 years until his retirement in 2016. He has also served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in Tallinn and was a member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, Hunter College-CUNY, Ursinus College, and the New Jersey Summer Arts Institute.
Dr. Branker is also an Origin Records recording artist who was named in Down Beat magazine’s 62nd & 63rd Annual Critics Poll as a “Rising Star Composer.” He has nine releases in his fast growing and musically rich discography that have included such artists as Walter Smith III, Philip Dizack, Remy Le Boeuf, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Han Oh, Donald Edwards, Pete McCann, Alison Crockett, Ralph Bowen, Rudy Royston, David Binney, Conrad Herwig, Jim Ridl,
Kenny Davis, Tia Fuller, Steve Wilson, Antonio Hart, Clifford Adams, Andy Hunter, Jonny King, Bryan Carrott, John Benitez, Belden Bullock, Adam Cruz, Ralph Peterson Jr., Wilby Fletcher, Kadri Voorand and Freddie Bryant. In June, Branker’s tenth album, Songs My Mom Liked, will be released on Origin Records with his group Anthony Branker & Imagine featuring
Donny McCaslin, Philip Dizack, Fabian Almazan, Linda May Han Oh, Rudy Royston, Pete McCann, and Aubrey Johnson.