Registration for the Hoover Jazz Festival is CLOSE for 2024
Registration for 2025 will Open on October 1, 2024

2024 Jazz Fest Judges

Dave Altemeier

An Iowa native, Dave Altemeier got his start playing with the Jack Oatts Quartet while in high school. He then moved on to UNI where he played in UNI Jazz Band One for four years, and was Principle Bassist in The UNI Symphony Orchestra. After finishing a music degree with a jazz minor he moved to Des Moines and has since worked with a wide variety of Jazz, Blues and R 'n B groups. He currently teaches at Ye Olde Guitar Shop and Drake University.

Lynne Hart

Lynne Hart expects her students to practice assignments daily in order to accomplish their musical goals.

More than 100 of Hart’s students have been accepted into the Iowa All-State Band/Orchestra; in 2010, 14 of her students were selected. All five of the available saxophone spots went to Hart’s students. Eight clarinetists and the orchestra oboist were also students in Hart’s studio. The 2013 All-State Band includes 5 of Hart’s clarinet students, included the student who earned the principal chair in the band. The alto saxophonist and both alto sax alternates selected in the district competition were from Hart’s studio. Hart’s students also took tenor saxophone and oboe spots in the All-State Band. Alternate spots went to an additional three participants from Hart’s studio.
In the spring of 2014, 5 of the 15 high school saxophonists selected for the Iowa All-State Jazz Band are her students.

Her pupils routinely earn the top spots in their middle school and high school music ensembles, and often choose to pursue music professionally or recreationally for the rest of their lives.

In addition to her private studio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Hart teaches saxophone at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Ian Rutherford

Ian Rutherford is currently attending UNL as a DMA graduate teaching assistant in trombone. He teaches History of Rock and the low brass sections of the skills course, as well as minor and non-major trombone students. Ian completed his BME at Augustana University where he studied with Vance Shoemaker. During his undergraduate studies, he was a featured soloist multiple times with the Northlanders Jazz Band and a winner of the Concerto/Aria Competition.

Following his undergraduate studies, he was the 5-12 Band Director at West Sioux Public Schools in Hawarden, Iowa for two years. Ian completed his Masters degree in trombone performance under the tutelage of Dr. Scott Anderson at UNL in 2020. Ian is an active freelance trombone player and clinician in the Midwest. He has performed with the Des Moines Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, Lincoln’s Symphony, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Iowa Symphony Orchestra, and the University of Nebraska Faculty Brass Quintet.

Ian has shared the stage with John Faddis, Chris Vadala, Second City, Mason Bates, Sasha Cooke, Evelyn Glennie, Michael Daugherty, Aaron Diehl, Mark O’Connor, Vince DiMartino, Keith Lockhart, John Luther Adams, Keith Brion, among others. He has also performed in masterclasses for Mark Lawrence, Douglas Yeo, Joseph Alessi, Matthew Vaughan, and Marshall Gilkes.

Jon Lewis is in his 31st year as a band director in the state of Iowa. He has a B.A. from Luther College and a Master’s Degree from Viterbo University. He began his career teaching high school band at West Lyon High School in Inwood, Iowa. After two years, he joined the band staff at the West Des Moines Community School District in West Des Moines, Iowa. In West Des Moines, Jon has taught in several different elementary schools as well as at Stilwell Junior High. He currently teaches at Stilwell Junior High exclusively. He has been in charge of many different ensembles including concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands, and pep bands. He has also been in charge of the West Des Moines Summer Band Program for many years. Bands under Jon’s direction have consistently received I and I+ ratings at the many contests his bands have attended.

In addition to his role as a band director in the schools, Jon plays several other roles
outside of school. He is a private trombone/euphonium instructor who has had many All State Band members over the years, is the Brass Director at Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, has played trombone professionally in the Des Moines Big Band for twenty nine years, and is a Driver’s Education teacher in the summer. Jon is in constant demand as a concert band and jazz judge, has done many clinics around central Iowa, and has performed professionally with numerous groups and ensembles on trombone. Through his career as a professional trombone player, he has played with many professional musicians including Bobby Shew, John Fedchok, Ryan Kisor, Justin Kisor, Frank Perowsky, Dick Oatts, Paul McKee, Richie Cole, John Mosca, the Temptations, and more.

Jon lives in Des Moines with his wife, three daughters, and two dogs. He loves to travel
with his family, spend time with family, and is a sports enthusiast who loves to play golf when he has the opportunity.

David Sharp

David Sharp is the Professor of Instrumental Music and Jazz at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. From 1989 through 1998, David was on the faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Music. Mr. Sharp earned his Bachelors of Music degree in composition from the University of Miami (Florida) and holds a Masters of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  As a free-lance saxophonist and woodwind specialist, David has performed extensively throughout the United States. He has worked with several national and internationally renowned jazz and pop artists including the Woody Herman Orchestra, Mel Torme, Claudio Roditi, Karrin Allyson, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Rod Stewart, Shirley Jones, Ana Gasteyer, and has performed in pit orchestras of numerous Broadway national touring shows. Sharp has also been a leader of several jazz big bands and popular groups. David Sharp is a prolific composer and arranger of jazz, big band, brass ensemble, and orchestral music. His works have been performed and/or recorded by numerous scholastic groups and professional jazz performers throughout the world. He is also the Associate conductor of the Ottumwa (IA) Symphony Orchestra

Larry Green

Larry Green is one of the founding members of the Iowa Jazz Championships along with Mr. Dan Peterson and Mr. Ron Battani who were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995. These three Des Moines directors had a vision to create an event that would showcase the talent of Iowa high school music programs and attract the state wide attention that the State Basketball Tournaments possessed. Out of this vision in 1976, the first Iowa Jazz Championships was hosted at Des Moines area high schools and the evening finals at Valley High School auditorium. For the next ten years, the event was hosted at Des Moines area high schools, Iowa State University, and the University of Iowa. It was Mr. Green's contact with Mr. Walter Walsh of the Principal Financial Group that put into motion their corporate sponsorship of the Iowa Jazz Championships and brought the event to Des Moines where it has been hosted at the Polk County Convention Complex and the Civic Center.

During his tenure as a high school music educator at Seymour, Washington, Roosevelt, and Valley High Schools, his jazz bands were known for their outstanding quality. Bands under his direction have appeared at the Mid-West Band Clinic in Chicago, the National Band Conference in Knoxville, Tennessee, the Iowa Bandmasters Convention, the Iowa Music Educators Convention, the Montreaux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland, and received a "DB" award from Downbeat magazine for outstanding high school jazz ensemble. The Valley High School Jazz Ensemble under his direction received numerous awards including first place at the Jazz Championships in Class 4A on 7 occasions, six of those in consecutive years from 1982-1987 and again in 1989.

He is a member of the Iowa Bandmasters Association, jazz chairman for the National Band Association, a member of the Leadership and Advocacy Committee for the International Association of Jazz Educators, presently the district manager for United Musical Instruments, U.S.A., and coordinator of the Court Avenue "Evening of Jazz".