Michael R Dudley
Assistant Professor: Jazz Studies
Michael R. Dudley Jr. is a trumpet player, composer, producer, educator, and photographer. Michael serves as the director of the Crane Jazz Ensemble, Crane Jazz Band, Giroux Honors Combo, and the instructor for jazz theory, improvisation, and jazz-related history classes.
With more than a decade of professional experience as a musician, he has played at venues like NYC's Birdland Jazz Club and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola with groups such as the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Christian McBride Big Band, and the South Florida Jazz Orchestra. His performances as a fellow with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra allowed him to share the stage with John Williams and Quincy Jones, among other amazing artists. He recently performed at the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival with the Maria Schneider Orchestra as well as with his own group.
Michael can be heard as a lead trumpet player on multiple GRAMMY®-winning recordings by the John Daversa Big Band and Brian Lynch Big Band in addition to his self-produced single ("Another Star") featuring vocalist Makayla Forgione and saxophonist Melvin Butler, having recorded with numerous groups while completing his masters and doctoral degrees at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
As a composer and arranger, he has studied with Maria Schneider, Miho Hazama, Gary Lindsay, Noam Wiesenberg, and Stephen Guerra, recently earning a 2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award for his piece "Overture to The Before And After Times." He has collaborated with numerous artists on orchestrations that have been performed by the Charlotte Symphony (including Donny McCaslin's "BLACKSTAR Symphony" project featuring the music of David Bowie), Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, New Canon Chamber Collective, and Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, with more premieres scheduled soon.