Guest Artist Joshua Kauffman

Joshua Kauffman, an in-demand performer and educator in the Washington Metropolitan area and throughout the United States, can be seen and heard at major venues like Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Capitol One Arena, Blues Alley, Keystone Korner, Strathmore, National Theatre, heard at events like the Monterrey Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Jazz Education Network, International Trumpet Guild conference, Generations in Jazz Festival, Cancer Blows, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, and can be found teaching at The National Jazz Workshop and as a guest artist and clinician with colleges and schools throughout the US.

Equally at home in the jazz and classical idioms, Joshua has had the opportunity to share the stage with James Taylor, The National Symphony Orchestra, Chicago, William Shatner, John Williams, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Doc Severinsen, Hugh Jackman, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Randy Brecker, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Seth MacFarlane, Killer Mike, Dianne Reeves, Bobby McFerrin, Arturo Sandoval, Franki Valli and the Four Seasons, Sean Jones, Ben Folds, Jacob Collier, Smokey Robinson, The Big Apple Circus, Renee Fleming and many others.

He also travels around the United States to perform swing music for national and international events like The International Lindy Hop Championships, DC Lindy Exchange, Beantown Camp and other swing music and dancing events and competitions.

Originally from New Castle, Pennsylvania, Kauffman attended The University of North Texas where he played in the Grammy nominated One O’Clock Lab Band from 2014-2017 where he held both the solo and lead trumpet chairs. While in the One O’Clock Lab Band, he performed at the inaugural concert of Cancer Blows, Monterey Jazz Festival and traveled to Australia to perform at the Generations in Jazz Festival with famed multi-instrumentalist, James Morrison. He graduated in 2017 Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies.

Days before graduation, Joshua auditioned and won a position with The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” where he currently holds the first trumpet chair of The U.S. Army Blues, the premiere jazz ensemble of The United States Army.

Joshua has had many great teachers and mentors in his life including Allen Vizzutti, Jay Saunders, Paul Stephens, John Holt, Rodney Booth, Mike Steinel, Dr. Stephen Hawk and others.

Kauffman is a Yamaha Performing Artist and exclusively plays GR Mouthpieces.

Guest Artist Javier Nero 

Dr. Javier Nero is an award-winning trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area (DMV). At the Peabody Institute, Dr. Nero teaches the jazz trombone studio, arranging, harmony, ear training, graduate composition, and has also previously directed the Peabody Jazz Ensemble.

Dr. Nero holds the lead trombone position in the United States Army Band Pershing’s Own, “US Army Blues”. A group of 18, by audition only, musicians enlisted to perform Jazz at the highest level for the American people and connect them to military service members. The musicians perform public concerts, high profile jazz festivals nationwide, as well as major political events at the White House, and Capitol.

Dr. Nero is the also the lead trombonist, composer, arranger, and bandleader of the Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra which performs monthly at the venue “An Die Musik” in Baltimore, MD. The band has also performed to sold out sets at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club in NYC, at Keystone Korner Baltimore, and Blues Alley among many other venues. His compositions have also been performed by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Titus Burgess, Veronica Swift, Ashley Pezzotti, as well as Carnegie Hall’s NYO Program, among many others.

Javier’s first Jazz Orchestra album “Kemet (The Black Land)” featured 11 original compositions/arrangements for 18-piece jazz orchestra and featured special guests, Sean Jones, Randy Brecker, Warren Wolf, Christie Dashiell, alongside a world class ensemble. The JNJO released its 2nd album “Alkebulan” on March 20th, 2026 on Outside in Music featuring special guests Grammy Award-winning vocalist Nicole Zuraitis, Veronica Swift, Sean Jones, and was in the top 10 for several weeks on the jazz radio charts. The album features 7 original compositions and 2 imaginative arrangements of jazz standards.

Dr. Nero holds a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School, and Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.