Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition
Nadje Noordhuis Tobias Kaemmerer
Vitaly Golovnev
grew up in Russia. He attended the College of Modern and Improvisational Music as well as the Russian Academy of Music. While in Russia, Golovnev performed with the Oleg Lundstrem Orchestra and appeared at the Triumph Jazz Festival. He was awarded first place in both the National Jazz Competition in Rostov, Russia and the Moscow Small Jazz Group Competition. Since moving to New York, Golovnev has performed with the Mingus Big Band and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He has recorded with Igor Butman and Alex Rostosky and has performed on the soundtracks of many Russian films.
grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended the Milwaukee High School of the Arts. While in high school, Kaemmerer was recognized as an “Outstanding Soloist” by Downbeat magazine. In 2001, he was selected for the 2001 GRAMMY® Jazz Ensemble. Kaemmerer received a bachelor of music degree from DePaul University in Chicago. While at DePaul, he performed and recorded with artists including Jim McNeely, Wynton Marsalis, and Randy
Brecker. Kaemmerer has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the IAJE conference. He currently lives in Chicago, where he performs regularly with his quintet.
grew up in Australia and received a bachelor’s degree in musical performance from the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne. Soon after moving to New York in 2003, she joined Sherrie Maricle and the
DIVA Jazz Orchestra and performed with the group throughout the United States and Europe. Noordhuis attended the Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a master’s degree in 2005. She played with the school’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra and performed at Birdland and Dizzy’s Club CocaCola in New York. Noordhuis leads her own quintet and runs a small business that offers improvisation workshops for high school students.
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Charlie Porter
was raised in Florida. In 1996, he moved to New York to attend The Juilliard School, where he studied with Wynton Marsalis. As a freshman, Porter won first place in Juilliard’s Quadrennial Trumpet Concerto Competition. While at Juilliard, he was selected to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute Summer Jazz Colony and was later featured on the BET Jazz cable network. After completing his degree at Juilliard, Porter studied for one year at the Paris Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar. He was the first person ever to be awarded first prize in both the jazz and classical divisions of the National Trumpet Competition. Porter is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music.
Michael Rodriguez
was born in Queens, New York, and was inspired by his father to pursue music. Rodriguez studied at the New World School of the Arts in Miami and continued his studies at the University of Miami. He transferred to New School University in New York, where he received his bachelor’s degree. Rodriguez has performed with artists including Eric Reed, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, the Carla Bley Band, Harry Connick, Jr., the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and Bob Minzter. He has performed on Charlie Haden’s 2004 album, Land of the Sun, and on the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra’s 2005 album, Not in Our Name. Rodriguez lives in New York, where he plays regularly with the Rodriguez Brothers.