Rich Illman is Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University and has been the faculty sponsor of the Michigan State University Yoga Club since 1990. Illman has had a wide variety of playing experiences. Currently he is one of the solo cornets with the Brass Band of Battle Creek and was a featured soloist on their first and third CDs as well as one of the trumpets, along with Vince DiMartino, in the Millennium Brass Quintet. He is also First Trumpet in the Beaumont Brass Quintet, Principal Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra, Lead Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Big Band, and First Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Brass Quintet, performing all around the state of Michigan with those groups.
As Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University, Illman has been featured soloist with the MSU Alumni Band on their last three European tours.He was principal trumpet of the Lexington Philharmonic for eighteen years. Having played lead trumpet in a Lexington Big Band for fourteen years, he has also performed in backup bands for Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Bob Hope, and rock groups such as the Fifth Dimemsion, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Spinners.
In an effort to keep up with modern technology, Illman uses synthesizers and other electronic devices both in his studio teaching and on numerous solo recitals with Frank Ell, Professor of Clarinet at MSU, in a program entitled “Music and Technology”. He has also formed a MIDI ensemble which presents multi-media concerts in planetariums.
Page last modified April 4, 2012
