Maddie Vogler

Bitter Jester Music Festival Judge

Maddie Vogler is an in-demand musician, composer, and educator in the Chicagoland area and is a Luminarts Jazz Fellow with the Luminarts Cultural Foundation. 

She previously received her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied with Tito Carrillo.

She currently performs with a variety of groups on saxophones and woodwinds, and is the Music Production and Jazz teacher at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL, alongside fellow BJMF judge and Director of Education Michael Tseitlin.

Her debut record, While We Have Time, was released in September via Origin Records.

While We Have Time is an exploration of the small, yet profound beauties of everyday life. The nine original songs are brimming with adventurous rhythmic energy and melodic soulfulness, idiomatically anchored in modern jazz while freely exploring Vogler’s relationship with her Cuban roots.

Maddie is excited to be returning to Bitter Jester once again as judge, this time providing verbal commentary and feedback to performers!