Glen Whitehead

Trumpet artist and interdisciplinary composer Glen Whitehead explores improvisational phenomena and environmental collaboration between living cultures and the natural world.  As a contemporary trumpet artist, he has been featured on numerous recordings, music festivals and residencies around the world, has commissioned concertos from some of the world’s most celebrated composers, and creates his own unique brand of ecoacoustic improvisational music.  

He released Pale Blue: Parables of the Anthrophony for Earth music, trumpet, and sound processing on Neuma Records in Spring, 2023. He published an article related to the compositional methods of this music in the Journal of Critical Studies in Improvisation, Col. 14, No.3 entitled “Take it Outside, People!: Bridging Ecoacoustics and Improvised Music” in the Journal of Critical Studies in Improvisation, Col. 14, No.3 (2021).  He is also featured on Soundscapes of Restoration and Icefields on Parma Recordings, released Spring, 2023.    His trio recording, the Living Daylights (2018) on pfMENTUM received rave reviews and remained on the top 10 of radio playlists across the U.S. for over a year. Psychoangelo’s release with Michael Theodore panauromni was listed on the top ten cd’s of the year by Chicago Time Out.  Film scores include Stitching Rites (Now and Then Productions, 2021). He has commissioned major new solo works for trumpet, ensemble and orchestras including the Ecoacoustic Concerto for two trumpets, sonic environments and ensemble by Matthew Burtner (2015) with Grammy Award winner, trumpeter Cuong Vu, Hennessy Concerto for trumpet and orchestra by Film composer Sean Hennessy (2013) and Lonnie and Lonie double concerto with trumpet, piano and orchestra by Macarthur Fellow Dr. George Lewis (2019). He is the Artistic Director of the Peak FreQuency Creative Arts, and Director of Performance of the EcoSono institute (with Dr. Matthew Burtner). For summer 2023, working with pianist Steve Drury, he was instrumental in moving the internationally acclaimed Summer Institute of Contemporary Practice (SICPP) festival to the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and is the new Director of SICPP at UCCS.

Tours and residencies internationally include with the New Zealand Māori group WAI, and the EcoSono Ensemble across the U.S, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Korea, and a European solo tour in 2019 with the Living Daylights music.  He was invited to be a featured artist in the SORI International Music Festival in Jeonju Korea in 2019.  He has been a visiting artist at institutions such as University of California, Saen Diego, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, University of Limerick, University of Washington, University of Cork, Huddersfield University, University of Brisbane, Sydney Conservatory, Columbia University, and the UCROSS Foundation. Past appearances include REDCAT in Los Angeles, the CSUF New Music Festival, BONK Festival, European performances at Bimhuis and Zaal 100 in Amsterdam, Holland, was a headliner with Psychoangelo at the Innova Festival in NYC at the Stone, the EcoSono Institute in Alaska, the SOUNDscape Ensemble, the IMPS Festival in Seattle, the ISIM Cross Cultural Improvisation Festival at Roulette and a featured artist at Columbia University with Yarn / Wire. Whitehead is former Principal trumpet of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs, the Orquestta Sinfónica del Tecnológico de Monterey, and the La Jolla Symphony Orchestra