Adjudicators
Adam Gaines, trumpet
Adam Gaines is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. In addition to teaching the trumpet studio, Dr. Gaines directs jazz ensembles, teaches jazz history courses and works with music technology. Dr. Gaines has performed as a soloist in his native Kentucky, as well as throughout Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, and at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals. In the Green Bay area he can frequently be heard performing with Gypsy Trip, a Django Reinhardt-inspired jazz combo made up of UWGB faculty and friends, and with Brass Differential, a New Orleans-style funk band. He holds degrees from the University of Louisville (Bachelor of Music, 1999) and Ball State University (Master of Music, 2001 and Doctor of Arts, 2005). Dr. Gaines frequently travels to Slovakia and the Czech Republic to perform in jazz and classical idioms and to spend time with his wife Ladislava’s family.
Reso Kiknadze, saxophone
composer and performer, was born in 1960 and grew up in Tbilisi, Georgia. From 1977-82, he studied classical philology at the Tbilisi State University (diploma 1982). As a saxophonist, he performed with the Georgian TV Big Band and the Conservatory Jazz Quintet, performing at various festivals in Tbilisi; Tallin, Estonia; Vilnius, Lithuania and more.
Composition studies continued from 1981-90 under Michael Shugliashvili (1941-1996) and from 1986-90 at the Tbilisi State Conservatoire composition and Georgian traditional music. He was a member of the Anchiskhati Cathedral Choir in Tbilisi during this period. In 1991, Professor Kiknadze moved to Germany to study composition under Friedhel Doehl at the Music Academy of Luebeck, also Electroacoustic Music under Dirk Reith, where he was his assistant at the Electroacoustic Studio of the Music Academy of Luebeck.
As a member of member of the improvisation ensemble 'Nuova Sonanza' (1992 – 94), he collaborated with "tatoeba - theatre dance grotesque", a German-Japanese contemporary dance company. From 1998 – 2011, Professor Kiknadze taught at the Electroacoustic Music Studio of the Music Academy of Luebeck and was also teacher of saxophone and improvisation at Luebeck’s Rosengarten Music School. Since 2000, he has collaborated with TanzOrt Nord, a contemporary dance company in Luebeck (2000 – 'Maria Magdalena', 2001 – 'Cumulus' and 'DisTanz' 2003). In 2002, Professor Kiknadze founded 'Resolution Group', a free electroacoustic improvisation ensemble and he has lectured at various institutes about electroacoustic music and Georgian traditional music since 2004. In 2005, he took part and since 2007 has co-organized the Swiss–Georgian contemporary music festival 'close encounters' (2009, 2011, 2013, 2016).
Reso Kiknadze is currently the Rector of the Tbilisi State Conservatoire (since 2011), teacher for Electroacoustic Music at the Ilia State University in Tbilisi, Georgia (since 2008), performs throughout the world both as saxophonist and computer musician in various formations of jazz, contemporary music and free improvisation. He is also the composer and coauthor of many projects with dance, visual arts, poetry, theatre and cinema, while lecturing and presenting master classes in electroacoustic music, composition, improvisation and jazz.
Terry O’Mahoney, drumset
Professor Terry O’Mahoney is Adjunct Professor of Music at Bellarmine University, where he teaches Jazz Drums, Applied Percussion, Rock Drums, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Combo. He is an active performer in the Louisville area with various jazz and classical ensembles, including the Louisville Orchestra. He was formerly a Professor of Music at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish (Nova Scotia, Canada), where he taught classical and jazz drumming, World Music, and directed the Latin Jazz, Percussion Ensemble, and small jazz ensembles. He is active as a performer, adjudicator, and clinician throughout the US and Canada. He holds a B.M.Ed. from the University of Louisville and a Masters in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami (FL). He also studied privately with jazz drumming legend Jeff Hamilton (Los Angeles, CA). He has performed on drumset with numerous jazz artists (Mike Stern, Randy Brecker, Phil Woods, Curtis Fuller, Jimmy Heath, Lew Soloff, and others) in addition to his frequent symphonic performances with Symphony Nova Scotia (Halifax, NS) on percussion and drum set. He has three books in print - Motivic Drumset Soloing, Jazz Drumming Transitions, and 100 Essential Drumset Lessons - for the Hal Leonard Corporation. His articles have appeared in Modern Drummer and Percussive Notes magazines and his compositions have been published by Per-Mus Publications. He plays Vic Firth drumsticks and Crescent Cymbals exclusively.
Sean Parsons, piano
Sean Parsons is a jazz pianist, composer, arranger, and educator. Originally from Illinois, Sean holds a Bachelor's degree in music composition from Illinois Wesleyan University, a Master's degree in jazz studies from DePaul University, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois.
Prior to his appointment at Ohio University, Sean has held faculty positions at Marshall University and Illinois Wesleyan University. He is in demand as a performer and clinician nationwide. Sean has been invited to direct several All-State and district big bands, combos, and vocal jazz ensembles and has shared the stage with many of the most notable musicians in jazz including Clark Terry, James Moody, Jon Faddis, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Steve Turre, and Randy Brecker. Additionally, he has regularly performed with and arranged for Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr.
He lives with his wife, twin children, two horses, three dogs, a parrot, and a turtle, most of which are named after jazz musicians.