Derek Worthington

Derek Worthington is a trumpet player, composer, and improviser based in Ann Arbor, MI. He is the founder and director of the Arbor Composers Collective, a mid-sized ensemble dedicated to the performance of original, experimental music (which is featured on his album Lovely Properties). Derek leads a quartet, The Great Collapsing Hrung, and the less cleverly named Derek Worthington Quintet, in addition to being a member of the collaborative improvising groups Braintree and Lords and Ladies. He performs as a sideman around Ann Arbor in such bands as creative folk/jazz quartet Mountain Shark and Balkan funk band Ornamatik, among others. Derek draws inspiration from a diverse array of influences to forge a personal compositional and improvisational voice. ​ Derek holds a Master's degree in Improvisation from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Ed Sarath, Andrew Bishop, and William Lucas. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Missouri - Kansas City, studying with Keith Benjamin, Stan Kessler, and Bobby Watson. During the summers of 2011 and '12, he was a participant in the Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music, where he had the opportunity to work with Dave Douglas, Jonathan Finlayson, Clarence Penn, Greg Tardy, Steve Lehman, and many others.

Tags