Clinician

Mike Kamuf holds Bachelor of Music degrees in both Jazz Performance and Music Education from the Dana School of Music at Youngstown State University (Youngstown, OH) and a Master of Arts degree in Instrumental Conducting from George Mason University (Fairfax, VA). Mike’s compositions and arrangements have been performed by numerous jazz artists and ensembles including the Woody Herman and Glenn Miller Orchestras, the USAF Airmen of Note, the US Navy Commodores, James Moody, Eddie Daniels, Sean Jones, Terell Stafford, Bob Mintzer, Bill Watrous and Nick Brignola to name a few. Mike is an exclusive writer for the Belwin Division of Alfred Music Publishing with titles in their jazz, orchestra and concert band catalogs. He also has compositions for jazz ensemble published by UNC Jazz Press, the Neil A. Kjos Music and the FJH Music Company. Many of Mike’s published jazz ensemble arrangements have become standard literature for young jazz ensembles and he currently has over 100 publications in print.

Mike has performed with the Woody Herman and Tommy Dorsey Orchestras and has recorded as a member of the Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra. He served as assistant principal trumpet of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Mike leads his own jazz octet, the Mike Kamuf Little Big Band, comprised of outstanding musicians from the Baltimore and Washington DC areas.

Mike began his teaching career in 1991 in Ohio and taught instrumental music for Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) for thirty years. For twenty-seven of those years, Mike served as the Director of Bands and Orchestras and Music Department Chairperson at John T. Baker Middle School (Damascus, MD). Under his direction, the Baker ensembles consistently received high ratings at music festivals and have commissioned several works for young concert bands. Mike has received the MCPS Superintendent’s Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) Award for his efforts in involving students in the composition commissioning process. He has directed the MCPS Senior Honors Jazz Band, Junior Honors Band, and the All-County Middle School Band.

Additionally, Mike has directed the Pennsylvania All State Jazz Band, the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Directors Association (SCSBOA) Jazz All Stars, the New Mexico All State Jazz Band, and many regional honors ensembles in California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Mexico, Ohio, Minnesota and New York. Mike has served as a jazz faculty member at Youngstown State University and Montgomery College (Rockville, MD). Mike has presented professional development sessions for music educators at the Midwest Clinic, Jazz Education Network Conferences and at numerous regional and state music education conferences. He has become an in-demand arranger, clinician, guest conductor and adjudicator for schools, conferences and music festivals across the country and is a clinician for both MakeMusic and Alfred Music.