JAZZ FESTIVAL
Judges

Bruce Dalby is Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education, improvisation, jazz, and ear training. He has ten years experience as a band director in the public schools of Idaho and New Mexico, including five years as band director at Manzano High School in Albuquerque.

Dr. Dalby received his undergraduate education from Utah State University in Logan and did his graduate work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received the Master of Science and Doctor of Education degrees in music education. His research and teaching interests include Music Learning Theory, improvisation, intonation and rhythm training, and applications of technology in music teaching and learning.

He has articles published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, Jazz Educators Journal, Musicus, and The Instrumentalist. Dr. Dalby is the developer, author and administrator of the official website for Music Learning Theory and the Gordon Institute for Music Learning. He is also the author of “Audiation Assistant,” aural skills software from GIA Publications.

Ryan Finn is the Program Director for The Jazz Project. Based in Los Alamos, he directs concert bands, jazz bands, and the Topper Marching Band at Los Alamos Middle and High Schools. Ryan is an active performer, playing trombone with several area jazz and blues bands. He also leads a jazz group that presents his original compositions, most of which are in Caribbean and Latin American styles.

Ryan’s interest in Caribbean and Latin music is rooted in practical life experience. For more than seven years, he  taught band, orchestra, jazz, and music theory at the School of Music on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. He also performed with well-known Caribbean musicians such as Luther François, Barbara Cadet, Alison Marquis, Ronald “Boo” Hinkson, and Rob “Zi” Taylor. Taken with the sounds he heard in the islands, Ryan arranged and composed in a variety of local folk styles and has a portfolio of over 30 compositions, including full symphonic works, musicals, jazz band charts, and concert band arrangements.

Ryan earned his Bachelor of Music Education in 2004 from Loyola University-New Orleans and his Masters of Educational Leadership in 2018 from New Mexico Highlands University. He serves as the Vice President of Jazz for the NM Music Educators Association and is working statewide to help create an educational space and priority for jazz and improvisational music. Ryan was awarded the NMMEA Music Educator of the Year Award in January 2020; a year later, his jazz band was named one of the NMMEA All-State Jazz Bands. As a result of his many successes, here in New Mexico and elsewhere, Ryan is often asked to lead clinics with middle school and high school bands across the Southwest.

In his free time, Ryan Finn can be found hiking and skiing around Northern New Mexico with his wife Ellen, their three children, and their dog.

Justin Ray has been a professional musician for more than 20 years. While attending the Berklee College of Music in Boston, he began to earn a reputation as a fiery and compelling trumpet soloist, comfortable in a wide variety of styles. After finishing his degree, Ray relocated to Los Angeles and quickly became one of the most in demand musicians in the region. He performed regularly with jazz legends like drummers Dave Weckl and Peter Erskine, vocalist Kurt Elling, pianists Bill Cunliffe and Alan Pasqua, and a host of others.

In 2003, Ray accepted an offer from Warner Bros. recording artist Michael Buble to join his group.

He has toured 45 countries, appeared on Grammy-winning recordings, and has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world, such as Madison Square Garden, the Sydney Opera House, Radio City Music Hall, and the Hollywood Bowl. Justin has also made a number of TV appearances, including multiple performances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Saturday Night Live

Justin has recorded multiple records under his own name. The first is a self-titled collection of his hard-bop tinged originals. His next, Love Songs is a combination of jazz and beatnik-style poetry featuring works from artists as diverse as Allen Ginsberg and Star Trek’s Commander Data. The third, Evil Man Blues features Ray both as trumpeter and vocalist on a collection of jazz standards.

When he is not touring, Ray makes his home in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife, artist Natalie Ray, and three small children, and is an active member of its vibrant musical community.

Saxophonist, composer, and music educator Rob Wilkerson is an Albuquerque, NM native based in Brooklyn, NY from 2001 to 2022, and currently living in Las Vegas, NV. 

Rob is a member of Darcy James Argue’s critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated big band, Secret Society, and Alan Ferber’s Big Band (nominated for Grammy awards in 2014 and 2017). From 2005 through 2022 he toured the world playing alto sax and flute as a member of Warner Brothers artist Michael Bublé’s band, including appearing on Grammy and Juno award-winning albums. 

Rob has been a featured soloist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, performs regularly with the Chelsea Symphony in NYC, and performed Michael Tilson Thomas’ “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind” with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2018. He has appeared at jazz festivals all over the world including multiple performances at Newport Jazz Festival with Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. As a doubler, regularly played the woodwind book for the Tony award-winning Avenue Q from 2017-2019.

Rob holds a B.A. in Saxophone Performance from the University of New Mexico, and a master's degree in jazz studies from the University of North Texas, where he played lead alto in the One O’clock Lab Band. Rob has taught classical and jazz saxophone for undergraduate and graduate studios at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Boston University, and University of North Texas; and he is currently an adjunct professor at The Hartt School at University of Hartford. 

Rob is a Selmer Paris Performing Artist and a Vandoren Artist.