CMFAA User Profile

Dennis Ullman has worked extensively in the areas of music education and performance for over 40 years. He has been in frequent demand as a music festival adjudicator at regional music festivals across Canada, Canada’s Wonderland School Music Festival and affiliate festivals of MusicFest Canada. Since 2010, he has conducted over 500 clinics/workshops as an adjudicator of concert bands, jazz ensembles, brass, woodwinds and percussion. As guest clinician, he has instructed sessions for regional Honour Band Programs and has conducted performances at various venues throughout North America including the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN.

Mr. Ullman was a teacher in Ontario’s private school system for over twenty-five years and conducted many award-winning bands and ensembles at the Secondary and Elementary School levels. He has also directed various school (public/private) ensembles that performed throughout North America and regularly at MusicFest Canada’s National Festival.

As a private instructor he has worked with hundreds of students, many of whom have gone on to become major contributors to the music industry in cities such as Nashville, Toronto and Montreal. Graduates have performed on the David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Shows, at the Air Canada Centre and with artists such as Brad Paisley, Steel Magnolia, Miranda Lambert, Steven Curtis Chapman, Thomas Rhett, and many other shows including Cirque du Soleil.

Mr. Ullman has been featured in a variety of ensembles including theatre orchestra performances such as the Canadian premier of “A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline” a musical by Dean Regan. He has also performed with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Oshawa Civic Band and the Peterborough Civic Concert Band. Mr. Ullman has been active with the Praise and Worship teams at various churches including Carruthers Creek Community Church, various churches in the Durham Region and is currently active with the Bayfair Baptist Church Music and Worship Ministry. Recordings include ‘Duke’n It Out” with the Kawartha Jazz Ensemble, featuring arrangements by the late Ron Collier.

After graduating with an Honours Diploma in Applied Music from Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology, Mr. Ullman became President of DRUMS Inc. He has been an active member of Canadian Music Festival Adjudicator’s Association, Canadian Band Director’s Association, Ontario Band Association, Jazz Educators Network and Ontario Music Educators’ Association. Mr. Ullman is the founder and Regional Co-ordinator for OCM, an affiliate festival of MusicFest Canada and was a member of Mohawk College’s Applied Music Program Advisory Committee for ten years. He was responsible for the development of the Praise and Worship component as part of MusicFest Canada as a member of MusicFest Canada’s Choral/Vocal Division Committee.

Mr. Ullman, his wife Rachel and family reside in Courtice, Ontario. Dennis and Rachel enjoy travelling, cooking, soccer and of course the - Detroit Red WINgS.