AIBF Calgary Adjudicators
Concert Band
Jacqueline
Dawson
Dr. Jacqueline Dawson is in demand as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator across Canada and the United States, appearing at numerous festivals and conferences coast to coast. Engagements have included the Minnesota All-State Concert Band, Musicfest Canada, the Alberta Band Association Wind Symphony, The Maritime Youth Wind Ensemble, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra New Music Festival, the International Music Camp, and numerous state, provincial, regional and divisional honour bands in Canada and the United States.
Dr. Dawson is currently an Associate Professor and the Director of Bands at the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music where she conducts the Concert Band and Wind Ensemble, teaches courses in music education and oversees the graduate wind conducting program. Jacquie served on the board of directors of the Manitoba Band Association from 1999 – 2005, was the treasurer of the Canadian Band Association from 2022 - 2023 and remains active with numerous MBA projects. She was the Artistic Director of The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble from 2009-2020. Jacquie is the one of the founders of the Winnipeg Youth Wind Ensemble and is the founder of the newly formed Winnipeg Chamber Winds Collective. She has been a recipient of the University of
Manitoba Strategic Initiative Initiatives Fund, a UM Explore SHRCC grant, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant, and awarded a University of Manitoba Community Engagement Award for outstanding service and community activity. Jacquie is a strong advocate for music education and is a clinician for the Yamaha Canada True North Master Educator program.
Dr. Dawson has been published in the Canadian Music Educator Journal and the Canadian Winds Journal and has presented at conferences internationally, including the Canadian Music Educators’ Association National Conference, the Kansas Music Educators Conference and the International Society for the Research and Promotion of Wind Music Conference. She is an active proponent in the promotion of new wind band works and has led or participated in numerous commissions and premieres of works by Gary Kulesha, Kenley Kristofferson, David Scott, Viet Cuong, Steven Danyew, Holly Harrison, and Peter Meechan. Jacquie received
undergraduate degrees in music and music education from Memorial University of Newfoundland and holds a master’s degree in conducting from the University of Manitoba where she studied with Dr. Dale Lonis and Earl Stafford. She completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in conducting from the University of Kansas under the tutelage of Dr. Paul Popiel.
Jazz Band
Roosevelt
Griffin
Dr. Roosevelt Griffin III has dedicated his career to building community through music education. After spending two decades as Director of Bands at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School, where he built a nationally recognized music program and transformed the lives of countless
young musicians, he now serves as Director of Jazz Studies at his alma mater, Northern Illinois University, preparing the next generation of performers, educators, and leaders.
Beyond the university, Griffin’s leadership extends throughout the region and across the nation. He is the Founder of the Griffin Institute of Performing Arts (NFP) and Owner of GI Music LLC. He also serves as Co-Artistic Director of VanderCook College of Music’s One City Youth Jazz Program, Director of Youth Ensembles for the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, and Education & Community Engagement Director for the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.
A respected leader in music education, Dr. Griffin serves as President of the Illinois Music Education Association’s Jazz Division, Board Member of the Jazz Education Network, and North Central Representative for NAfME’s Council for Jazz Education.
His contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching and the John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award, presented by the Jazz Education Network and Berklee College of Music. In 2015, his hometown of Harvey, Illinois, recognized his commitment to the community by renaming a street in his honor: Roosevelt Griffin III Avenue.
Griffin’s work has been featured in
Teaching Music Magazine, DownBeat, JazzEd, and The Instrumentalist. He is also a co-author of Teaching Music through Performance: Beginning Jazz Ensembles, Rehearsing the Jazz Band, and Harmonizing Ethics in Education.
Griffin believes the true purpose of music education is not simply to teach music, but to build people, strengthen communities, and create opportunities that last for generations.