ABOUT
Michael R. Dudley Jr. is a trumpet player, composer, producer, educator, and photographer based in the historic neighborhood of Bedford Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, New York.
With more than a decade of professional experience as a musician, Michael has played at venues around the world in addition to iconic New York City locations such as Carnegie Hall, Birdland Jazz Club, and Dizzy's Club. They have made recent musical appearances with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Christian McBride Big Band, Derrick Hodge's Color of Noize Orchestra, Ryan Truesdell's Gil Evans Project, and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. Michael's performances as a fellow with the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra allowed them to share the stage with John Williams and Quincy Jones, among other amazing artists. More recent performances have included the 2024 Big Ears and North Sea Jazz Festivals with Secret Society, Maria Schneider Orchestra's 30th Anniversary Tour, the 2023 Breaking Barriers Festival @ Ravinia, and the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival with the Maria Schneider Orchestra as well as with their own group (featuring Eliza Salem and Robert Papacica).
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 their self-produced single ("Another Star") featuring vocalist Makayla Forgione and saxophonist Melvin Butler, having recorded with numerous groups while completing their graduate studies at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.
As a composer and arranger, Michael has studied with Maria Schneider, Miho Hazama, Gary Lindsay, Noam Wiesenberg, and Stephen Guerra, having recently earned ISJAC and ASCAP Foundation awards for their piece "Overture to The Before And After Times." In 2024 Michael participated in the Orchestra of St. Luke's DeGaetano Composition Institute, being mentored by acclaimed composer Augusta Read Thomas with a culminating premiere by the GRAMMY®-winning chamber orchestra at New York's own DiMenna Center for Classical Music. They also have collaborated with artists such as Donny McCaslin, and Michael's compositions and orchestrations have been performed by the Sphinx Virtuosi, Chicago Sinfonietta, Charlotte Symphony, Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, Next Festival of Emerging Artists, New Canon Chamber Collective, and Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, with more premieres scheduled soon.
Michael also values work as an educator, having served as the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music from 2021-2024, in addition to giving masterclasses across the country. Michael was also recently brought on staff as an instructor and recording engineer at the JAS Academy in Aspen, Colorado alongside Christian McBride, Etienne Charles, Shelly Berg, Brian Lynch, and Chuck Bergeron after first participating as a student in 2019.