AIBF Calgary Adjudicators
Concert Band
Joel
Denton
Mr. Joel L. Denton served as Director of Bands at Ooltewah High School for thirty-seven years before retiring in 2018. Mr. Denton is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and has completed graduate studies at UT-Chattanooga. Mr. Denton served at Lee University from 2021-2024 as an Adjunct Professor of Instrumental Music Education and Interim Conductor of the Wind Ensemble. Prior to his retirement, he was recognized in 2018 as a CMA Music Teacher of Excellence. At the 2015 Midwest Clinic, Mr. Denton was awarded the John Phillip Sousa Foundation Legion of Honor for his contributions to band. Under his direction, the Ooltewah Band achieved a national reputation for musical excellence including performances in the 2017 Tournament of Roses Parade, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2013 and 2007, and as the only band in the 2011 Disney Christmas Parade on ABC. The Ooltewah Marching Band was a consistent finalist at Bands of America Regional Championships being awarded multiple class championships and placements, and was a national semi-finalist on multiple occasions with several class placements. Under Mr. Denton’s direction, the Ooltewah Concert Bands performed at the Music for All Southeast Regional Concert Festival in 2016, the TMEA (TN) State Music Conference in 2014 and 2010, the Smoky Mountain Music Festival in 2011(Grand Concert Division Champions), and multiple other state, regional and national events through the years. He served as Chairman of Fine Arts at Ooltewah from 1982 until his retirement and was selected five times as the Ooltewah Teacher of the Year. The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts has thrice honored him. His professional affiliations include the Tennessee Music Education Association (Mr. Denton currently serves as President of the association), East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association (He is a Past-President and Hall of Fame Member), Phi Beta Mu (He
currently serves as Past-President of the ETA Chapter), National Band Association, American School Band Director Association, and Tennessee Bandmasters Association (He is a Past President and Hall of Fame Member). Mr. Denton served for eight years as the Tennessee State Chair for the National Band Association and served as a member of the Tennessee Department of Education’s Fine Arts Student Growth Committee. He is active as an adjudicator, clinician, and consultant working with Music for All/Bands of America, Drum Corps International, several universities and state organizations, as well as, many high school bands across the nation. Through his corporation, Leading the Way, Inc., Mr. Denton presents clinics and provides consultations and professional development sessions across the nation and also works with band programs and other organizations on developing leadership and teambuilding skills.
Mr. Denton and Kerry, his wife, reside in Chattanooga, Tennessee and have two adult children, Alex and Caroline, who are both educators.
Gareth
Jones
Gareth Jones is the director of the
University of Calgary’s Wind Ensemble and the Symphonic Band as well as being the Instructor of Trumpet and Conducting. He is also the Director of the Alberta Winds. In 2014 he was named the conductor of the National Youth Band of Canada. He was Assistant Principal Trumpet with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra from 1992 to 2007 and continues to play with the CPO whenever his conducting schedule allows. Before that, he held the same position with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra. He has studied conducting with the renowned pedagogues Jorma Panula, Gustav Meier, Michael Haithcock, and Michael Jinbo. He has conducted ensembles from across
Western Canada as well as Mexico and the United States. Mr. Jones’s musical activities are greatly varied. He has appeared as guest conductor and clinician with hundreds of wind ensembles and orchestras been
featured on Juno nominated blues CDs, appeared on CBC radio as a soloist and
chamber musician, been a guest lecturer with the National Youth Orchestra of
Canada, been an adjudicator at music festivals across Canada, as well as
conducting honour bands across Canada and was a reviewer for the latest update of the Royal Conservatory of Music trumpet syllabus. He received the University of Calgary Teaching Excellence Award in 2018. In 1996, he placed first among North American competitors in the Ellesworth-Smith International Trumpet Guild Solo
Competition, placing third worldwide. He can be heard playing chamber music,
jazz, blues, and rhythm and blues with various groups around Calgary. As a
conductor he founded the Calgary Honour Band and the University of Calgary Brass Choir. He was also a founding member of the chamber ensemble “Rosa Selvatica” and has been a featured soloist with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on several occasions. He studied conducting at the Pierre Monteux Institute and Canada’s National Arts Centre and received his Master of Music in conducting from the University of Calgary. He studied trumpet at Northwestern University with renowned pedagogue Vincent Cichowicz, where he won the prestigious concerto competition and a scholarship for performing excellence. Gareth Jones is a Yamaha Artist.
Nola
Jones
Nola Jones is a lifelong music educator who is a devoted and effective leader in arts education. She currently serves on the Chief Judge Team for Bands of America and is the Division Coordinator for the Director Academy at the Music for All Summer Symposium. In addition to extensive ensemble and classroom teaching experience, Jones possesses broad skills in leadership development, program design and implementation, curriculum writing, development, advocacy, and partnership building.
She maintains an active schedule as a guest speaker, conductor, adjudicator, clinician, and program evaluator. She has appeared nationally in 43 of the United States and internationally in Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, and Singapore. She was the Director of Visual and Performing Arts for Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Music Education Association and the Drum Corps International Judge Administration Team. She has been a featured presenter for the Midwest Clinic, NAMM Music Education Days, the National Association for Music Education, and Save the Music Foundation. She was on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and served on the Education Advisory Board of the First Center for Visual Arts. In 2024 she was inducted into the Tennessee Bandmasters Hall of Fame and in 2025 she was inducted into the Music for All Hall of Fame.
Jones received a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Mississippi State University and a Master of Music Education degree from Mississippi College. She received her Doctorate of
Musical Arts from the University of South Carolina.
Jazz Band
Will
Earvin
Dr. William J. Earvin is currently the Director of Educational Partnerships and Institutional Sales – North America for Conn-Selmer, Inc. He also coordinates the Conn Selmer HBCU Collective Community that engages music educators and arts supporters associated with Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Prior to this appointment, he served as an Educational Support Manager for the East Region at Conn Selmer. He is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music and performed with the Clark Atlanta University Jazz Orchestra. Dr. Earvin graduated from Mississippi Valley State University, earning a Master of Arts Degree in Education. His Doctor of Education degree from Northcentral University specializes in Higher Education Leadership and his Doctor of Arts in Music Education degree was earned at William Carey University. Wind band and jazz ensembles under his leadership have consistently earned Superior and Excellent ratings and have performed at regional and national festivals. Dr. Earvin has been honored as an “Outstanding Music Educator” by the Berklee College of Music and a “Distinguished Music Educator” by the Yale University School of Music. Dr. Earvin has presented numerous professional development sessions and in-services. He has facilitated workshops in school districts throughout the country. Notably, he presented sessions at the Conn Selmer Institute, the Louisiana Association for Student Assistance Programs (LASAP) Conference, LMEA Conference, The Midwest Clinic, the Music for All Summer Symposium, the ASBDA National Convention, and the NAfME Summit. Dr. Earvin is actively involved in numerous civic and professional organizations; LASAP, LMEA, the National Association for Music Education, Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Music Fraternity, the National Band Association, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., a charter member of the Louisiana Music Adjudicators Association, and is a member of the Music for All Advocacy in Action Advisory Committee. He is also a founding member of the Minority Band Directors National Association.
Lexi
Hamner
Lexi Hamner, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and
arranger hails from Cincinnati, Ohio where she began her music studies at the School for Creative and Performing Arts. Lexi, also known as Lexicocoa, has
played trombone for 15 years & singing since the age of 4, and writing/composing since the age of 12. Her music abilities lead her to study with the likes of Peter Norton, former trombonist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the illustrious director Wynton Marsalis, of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
Throughout her middle/high school career, Lexi has not only performed & competed nationally& internationally, but she was also allotted the opportunity to participate in masterclasses with the likes of Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Evelyn Glennie, Todd Stoll, Steven Turre, etc. She learned the true history of Jazz in the Summer Jazz Academy curated by Wynton Marsalis & the Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Lexi graduated from the prestigious Berklee College of Music as a Presidential Scholar and Sarah Vaughn scholarship recipient with a B.A. in Songwriting. During her studies at Berklee, she was taught by Tia Fuller, the world-renowned jazz saxophonist & composer, who taught her to step outside her comfort zone & stand in her power. One of the greatest experiences she’s had was stepping into the world of Flamenco during Berklee’s study abroad program in Valencia, Spain.
Since graduating, Lexi was chosen as one of the inaugural Next Jazz Legacy awardees of 2022 with New Music USA, where she was mentored by Terri Lynne Carrington, Bobby McFerrin, and Tia Fuller. She has also taught Black American Music to 4th-6th graders with Activities Beyond the Classroom in conjunction with Cincinnati Public Schools since 2021. Lexi is now touring with Janelle Monae as part of the “Age of Pleasure” U.S. tour run. As she continues to study and grow, she hopes to inspire people to explore beyond the mundane traditions of music through her sound.
Dr. Ronald C.
McCurdy
Dr. Ronald C. McCurdy is Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging and Professor of Music at the
Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC), where he served as chair of the jazz department for six years (2002-2008). Before his appointment at USC, he served as Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz at USC (1999-2001). He has served as Professor of Music and chair of the Afro-African American Studies Department and as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Minnesota (1990-1999). In 1997, Dr. McCurdy served as a Visiting Professor at Maria-Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland. In 2001 Dr. McCurdy received the Distinguished
Alumni Award from the University of Kansas. Dr. McCurdy received his undergraduate degree from Florida A&M
University and his master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Kansas.
Dr. McCurdy has continued to tour the Langston Hughes Project. This multimedia presentation is based on Hughes’ Ask Your Mama poem. This was Hughes’ social commentary on the
struggle for freedom and equality among Africans and African Americans. In 2008, he premiered the orchestral version of The Langston Hughes Project, Ask Your Mama: 12 Mood for Jazz with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra with rapper and television actor Ice-T. The multimedia presentation features a jazz quartet, spoken word, and images from the Harlem Renaissance.
Dr. McCurdy co-authors The Artist Entrepreneur: Finding Success in a New Arts Economy (Rowman & Littlefield Publication). He is co-author of a vocal jazz improvisation series titled Approaching the Standards, published by Warner Bros. Dr. McCurdy authored Meet the Great Jazz Legends (Alfred Publishing). He contributed chapters to two recent publications: Teaching Music in Performance Through Jazz: Vol. I (Gia Publication) and African Americans and
Popular Culture (Edited by Todd Boyd).
Dr. McCurdy has been a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs, including as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He was Director of the Walt Disney All-American Summer College Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers in Orlando, Florida, 1990-2018. A few of the guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, and Dianne Reeves. He has served as a member of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp faculty. Dr. McCurdy is a performing artist for the Yamaha International Corporation. beyondcategoryproductions.com