PART-TIME FACULTY
Gerard F. Kunkel
Childers Hall, Room SB-2 |
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Gerry Kunkel is an educator, composer, clinician, record producer, and studio and free-lance guitarist who has played with Aretha Franklin, Grover Washington Jr., Ron Carter, Dianne Reeves, Audra MacDonald, Joshua Bell, Jessye Norman, Bernadette Peters, Bebe Neuwirth, Chita Rivera, Chris Vadala, Jim Snidero and Terrell Stafford, Patrice Rushen, The Drifters, the Marvellettes, the Coasters, The Diamonds and many others.
He performed with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony as well as the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra; The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra and the pit orchestras of the Broadway revival of West Side Story and Chicago at the National Theatre, the acclaimed productions of Showtime and Ragtime at The Kennedy Center and the Gala Grand-Reopening of Ford’s Theatre attended by President and Mrs. Obama.
He has played in numerous theatre productions including Mama Mia, Spamalot, Chess, Sunset Boulevard, 42nd Street and The Full Monty. He has been selected to play numerous world premiers, most recently “Beaches, A Musical” by Nina Rainer Dart and Thom Thomas at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre in Shirlington, Virginia and the world premier of a piece for string quartet and electric/acoustic guitar by Czech composer Milos Orson Stedron at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. with the Sunrise Quartet entitled Rock for 22 Strings.
He has appeared at venues including Blues Alley, The Corcoran Gallery, Carter Barron, The National Mall, The Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, Ravinia in Chicago, Wolf Trap, the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore and the Meyerhoff Center for the Arts. He has played on numerous recordings, national television and radio jingles, short and full-length feature films. Known for his versatility as a guitarist, Gerry has performed extensively in the jazz, contemporary and classical music fields as a soloist, sideman, ensemble member and leader.
With over thirty years of teaching experience in classical, jazz, rock and blues guitar styles, Gerry is on the faculty of Howard University where he teaches jazz and classical guitar, mandolin and banjo as well as contemporary styles for stage and studio.
Dr. Dawkins will also discuss the evolution of Jazz Education at Howard University.
