JUDGES

Howard Mandel (USA)

President of the Judging Panel 9th Edition - President of the Jazz Journalists Association, author, educator, editor, webcaster, blogger, print journalist and board member of the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Two-time winner of ASCAP's Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism, [...]

Anna-Maria Nitschke (Netherlands)

Anna-Maria Nitschke is a vocalist & songwriter and senior producer of the Jazz Department at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, home to the largest jazz education program in Europe. As senior producer,

Kathryn Shackleton (UK)

Currently booking the artists for Watermill Jazz in Dorking, UK, Kathryn has also been a jazz reviewer for BBC Music, a sound engineer and acted as an agent for the brilliant US trumpet player Abram Wilson. She has been a panellist for the UK [...]

Wanda Majcher (Argentina)

Wanda Majcher is an Argentinian jazz journalist. She has been leading and producing radio shows such as Sinestesia.Radio and Salamanca Mojo. She has a twenty years of experience in promoting and talking about jazz music, jazz trends and the jazz circuit in general.

Giuseppe Mormile (Italy)

President of Veneto Jazz and artistic director of Venezia Jazz Festival.

He is the founder and president of Veneto Jazz since 1988, a leading association in Italy for the organization of music events.

John Lumpkin II (USA)

John Lumpkin II is a producer, arranger, and artist. In 2009 he was also a part of the Ravinia Steans Music Institute and Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program, John grew up in the Pentecostal church and still plans to exercise his gifts there as well as in other national venues.

Inge de Pauw (Belgium)

Inge is the owner of Stilletto Productions. After a successful career in the private sector where she developed skills in marketing and management, she decided to follow her passion for music, particularly jazz, by helping artists and organizations to promote their talent in Belgium and internationally.

Pachi Tapiz (Spain)

Creator and director of the website Tomajazz. Created in 2001, Tomajazz is the oldest website about jazz and improvised music in Spain. Pachi has collaborated with various publications such as Más Jazz, Ritmos del Mundo, Ruta 66 magazines, Diario de Noticias and Diario de Navarras newspapers

Arnaldo DeSouteiro (Brazil)

Record Producer (Verve, CTI, JSR, Milestone, Sony and other labels), Jazz & Brazilian Music Historian, Manager, Journalist, Publicist, Screenplay Writer, Arranger, Composer, Percussionist, Educator, member of Jazz Journalists Association, and voting member of NARAS-GRAMMY.

Libero Farnè (Italy)

Libero Farné has been steadily writing for the Musica Jazz monthly magazine since 1978. He has also been writing for other magazines such as Il Giornale della Musica, Ritmo, Fare musica, Mongolfiera, Il Manifesto, Provincia and, starting from 2004, he has been writing on the online magazine All About Jazz Italy.

Wilbert Sostre (Puerto Rico)

Jazz radio producer and columnist Wilbert Sostre Maldonado has written reviews and articles for several publications in the United States and Puerto Rico; among them, All About Jazz, Jazz Times, Jazz Inside Magazine, Latin Jazz Network, Diálogo University of Puerto Rico,

Matt Merewitz (USA)

As founder and director of Fully Altered Media (FAM) since 2007, Matt Merewitz has become known as one of the most effective publicists and digital marketers in the world of jazz and improvised music. Through FAM he offers not only album publicity but also label services, consulting...