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Kelly Rossum is an American (USA) jazz trumpet player and composer known for combining modern improvisations with traditional jazz elements. His move to New York City in 2009 continues to shape his vision of the future.
Rossum has released four albums as a leader and has appeared on over 40 recordings as a sideman. His most recent album, Family, was released in 2008. This recording features Minneapolis musicians Bryan Nichols, Chris Bates and JT Bates. The Dakota Jazz Club said, “Kelly Rossum is one of the most fearlessly inventive musicians in a region teeming with new sounds. His recorded projects have redefined what is new in jazz.”
In New York City, Kelly has performed with: Anti-Social Music (on the 2010 Festival of New Trumpet music), Chico O’Farril’s Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Gary Morgan’s PanAmerican Latin Jazz Orchestra, Joshua Shneider’s Easy Bake Orchestra, George Gee’s Big Band, JC Hopkins Biggish Band, Billy Fox’s Blackbirds and Bullets, Michael O’Brien’s Greater Than Five, Jeremy Walker’s Bootet, plus off-Broadway shows and countless late night musical explorations.
Kelly Rossum’s compositions, incorporating improvisational and contemporary avant-garde techniques, have been performed and recorded by numerous artists and organizations. Recently, “Little Mary”, an original composition for jazz ensemble, premiered in 2010 by Ralph Pyl’s Sydney All Star Big Band in Sydney, Australia. He has provided original scores for both film and dance, and has received support from the American Composers Forum and the Jerome Foundation. A site-specific collaboration with his wife, choreographer Suzanne Wiltgen, débuted in April of 2011 at the new Railroad Park in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2006, his composition “Toxic Fruit” was heard on the Science Museum of Minnesota’s television commercial for Gunther von Hagen’s Body Worlds exhibit and in 2008, the brass ensemble piece “Welcome Home” was commissioned by MacPhail Center for Music to open their new flagship building. His most recent work, “Serenity Valley” for classical trumpet ensemble, will be premiered in Minneapolis at the 2011 ITG Conference.
As an educator, Rossum is currently the jazz program director at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Before this appointment, he was the jazz director and trumpet professor (Visiting Professor) at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. He also founded and directed the jazz program at MacPhail Center for Music in Minnesota, one of the nation’s largest community music schools. He was involved with the now defunct International Association for Jazz Educators, having presented a “Free Jazz for the Young Jazz Ensemble” clinic at the 2005 regional convention in Chicago, Illinois. Kelly presented a “Free Jazz and the Trumpet” clinic for the International Trumpet Guild’s 2005 conference in Bangkok, Thailand and adjudicated the 2010 ITG Jazz Solo Competition in Sydney, Australia.
Jazz is an international music and Kelly has performed alongside musicians from all over the world; including, Wessell Anderson, Seneca Black, Juini Booth, Sam Burtis, Denis Colin, Anthony Cox, Barbara Dennerlein, Vince DiMartino, Bengt Eklund, Avram Fefer, Vincent Gardner, David Gibson, Andrea Giuffredi, Ignacio ‘Nachito’ Herrera, Phil Hey, Lars Jansson, Joe LoCascio, Ron Miles, Bob Mintzer, Eric Miyashiro, Ted Nash, Alex Norris, Michael O’Brien, Arturo O’Farril, Ugonna Okegwo, Don Rader, Stephanie Richards, Rex Richardson, Jim Seeley, Dominic Spera, Andrea Tofanelli, Sir David Wilcox, Matt Wilson, Woody Witt, and many more.
Kelly Rossum received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; a Masters of Music from the University of North Texas; and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Minnesota.
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