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Michael Parkinson

Michael Parkinson is a music educator, conductor/performer and clinician in Metro Kansas City.. He is a KHS America Education Artist as well as an XO Professional Brass Artist.  Mike is the director of the TRINITY JAZZ ENSEMBLE, an ecumenical group affilaited with Old Mission United Methodist Church, and leads JAZZ Spoken Here, a postbop sextet. He is a performer/educator for the Kansas Touring Arts program and a clinician for Nottelmann Music, Inc. Mike served as Director of the School of Music at Middle Tennessee State University where he founded the IMPROV Ensemble and taught courses in jazz studies. He performed with the MTSU Jazztet on tours of China in 2017 and 2018, and was named Guest Professor of Performing Arts at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. He previously served as Director of the Ohio University School of Music and Music Department Chair at Webster University in St. Louis. He taught courses in jazz studies, contemporary music, and entrepreneurship at Ohio and founded the New Music Ensemble and the Mini-Big Band at Webster. In his administrative positions, he has worked extensively in development and alumni relations, marketing and recruiting, facilities improvements, international relations/partnerships, curricular design, faculty assessment, student wellness, and entrepreneurship. Mikr also held faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve University, Furman University, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City as Director of Jazz Studies. A native of Cleveland, Tennessee, he received the DMA in Wind Conducting from the University of Cincinnati, the MM in Trumpet Performance from Kent State University, and the BM in Music Education from the University of North Texas. He studied trumpet with Frank Brown, John Haynie, Harry Herforth, and Marie Speziale; and conducting with Kelly Hale, Donald Hunsberger, David Kuehn, and Terry Milligan. His primary influences are Bob Brookmeyer, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Bill Scarlett, Kenny Werner, and Kenny Wheeler. Mike has served as an adjudicator, clinician, conductor or performer at events such as MUSICFEST USA and the Greater Southwest Music Festival, and at schools and festivals across the United States. He has directed ensembles for conferences of the College Band Directors National Association, International Association for Jazz Education, International Electronic Music Plus Festival, National Association for Music Education, and the Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio and South Carolina Music Educators Associations state conferences. He is the author of BASIE, BEBOP, BALLADS & BLUES, a jazz ensemble repertoire guide, and BEYOND THE BLUES, a guide to jazz ensemble score-part editing and rehearsal techniques.

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PROFESSIONAL ENDORSEMENTS:

Jamey Aebersold, American Jazz Master and internationally renowned jazz educator • “Mike Parkinson and I go way back. Mike has been a true jazzer and educator of our American music for many years. He’s spent his life immersed in it. He knows the SOUND and the players and loves showing others how to actually play jazz.”

Paul DeMarinis, Director of Jazz Studies/Emeritus, Webster University • “Mike Parkinson is many things—a hard bop messenger, an evolving artist of vast experience and insatiable curiosity, an educator of great substance and integrity, a global citizen, and a seasoned traveler who has had the wisdom to follow his heart where it might lead him. His long, vital career is a testament to the transformative power of the arts in a life well-lived.”

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Primary Instrument

Trumpet

Location

Kansas City

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

Forty-five years of experience working with ensembles, students and adults from intermediate through advanced levels. Clinics and workshops for high school/college/university jazz ensembles and combos, directors and students: ensemble interaction-rhythm-style, improvisation, ensemble rehearsal techniques, entrepreneurship and career development, brass techniques, and personal musicianship. International visibility as a performer, conductor, clinician, educator, and adjudicator. DMA, University of Cincinnati, Wind Conducting, 1991, with trumpet cognate; MM, Kent State University, Trumpet Performance, 1975, with additional study in conducting; BMEd, North Texas State University, 1973, with trumpet cognate; additional study at the Eastman School of Music, Berklee College of Music, and the University of Tennessee. Contact Michael Parkinson, [email protected], to discuss availability and fee structure. Financial support is available from KHS America with sufficient advance notice.

Clinic/Workshop Information

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Woody Shaw
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Miles Davis
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Art Farmer
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Lee Morgan
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Kenny Wheeler
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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Jazz Spoken Here,...

Webster's Last Word
2003

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