Michael R. Dudley Jr.
Michael R. Dudley Jr. is a trumpet player, composer, producer, educator, and photographer based in Upstate New York.
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 most recently performed at the 2022 Newport Jazz Festival with the Maria Schneider Orchestra as well as with his 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 his self-produced single ("Another Star") featuring vocalist Makayla Forgione and saxophonist Melvin Butler, having recorded with numerous groups while completing his graduate studies 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 artists such as Donny McCaslin, and his compositions and orchestrations have been performed by the Sphinx Virtuosi (for their 2022–23 international tour), Charlotte Symphony, Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, New Canon Chamber Collective, and Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, with more premieres scheduled soon.
Michael also values his work as an educator, serving as the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music 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 Shelly Berg, Christian McBride, and Chuck Bergeron after first participating as a student in 2019.
