Trumpet

Trumpeter and crossover artist Joe Burgstaller has performed and taught in 48 states, 21 countries, and hundreds of cities throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia and has performed and taught at over 70 universities, conservatories, and colleges around the world. He tours worldwide as a soloist in recital, with orchestra and band, with his crossover group BM4 (BurgstallerMartignon4), and as a clinician and teacher. Joe teaches trumpet and chamber music at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and teaches each summer at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Ca. He is an active arranger and composer and is in his second decade as a Yamaha Performing Artist. Burgstaller is a former full-time member of both Canadian Brass and Meridian Arts Ensemble and was one of the all-time most popular soloists at Columbia Artists’ Community Concerts (alumni include Van Cliburn and Jascha Heifetz). His extensive discography includes his solo CD The Virtuoso Trumpet and three Top-10 Billboard hits with Canadian Brass. His most recent release with BM4, Mozart’s Blue Dreams, vaulted immediately into the Top-50 JazzRadio Charts.

Joe performs and records with the BM4. Their latest recording Mozart’s Blue Dreams & Other Crossover Fantasies debuted directly into the Top50 JazzRadio charts and continues to receive rave reviews (“Ethereal moments of true beauty and genius … hip and approachable.” – AllAboutJazz.com; “Stunning!” – Jazz Notes). The New York City-based crossover group features Grammy and Oscar-nominated pianist Hector Martignon, Naumburg Award Winning percussionist John Ferrari, and Grammy-nominated bassist Hans Glawischnig. Joe’s inventive music videos for Mozart’s Blue Dreams were debuted worldwide by Yamaha America and Yamaha Europe as a special industry-leading video-podcast release. BM4 records for Summit Records (North America) and CARE Music Group (Europe).

Burgstaller teaches trumpet, chamber music, and a special eight-part series of all-instrument performance master classes at Peabody. Joe and trumpet teaching partner Ed Hoffman have built a groundbreaking one-of-a-kind trumpet studio that prepares their students for the demands and reality of today's music world. Joe's teaching emphasizes creativity, connection, versatility, and entrepreneurship, and he combines the best of traditional techniques with an innovative mental training approach that has its roots in the field's modern breakthrough discoveries of the last two decades.

Joe is a former full-time member of Canadian Brass (2001-2009, one-year sabbatical in 2005) and holds the third longest tenure on trumpet in the history of that famed group. Joe toured worldwide with the Brass, performing in recital and with orchestra (Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, New Jersey, Seattle, et al.), and contributed arrangements to the group, as well. Recordings that spotlight Joe include a Juno-nominated release, Magic Horn (AllMusicGuide.com heralded Joe's "superb set of arrangements" of Astor Piazzolla), BACH (includes his pyrotechnical arrangement of the Bach-Vivaldi Concerto in D), Legends (featuring his La Virgen de la Macarena – “Unbelievable Virtuosity” – DigitalIndie.net) and High Society ("Burgstaller's piccolo playing throughout this album is no less than perfect … I had to pinch myself for thinking that I heard a high clarinet!" - Brass Herald Magazine).

Prior to joining the Brass, Joe was North America's busiest trumpet recitalist, performing nearly 60 solo concerts every season with his Joe Burgstaller: The Rafael Méndez Project. As a Yamaha Artist and Clinician, Joe reached thousands of students every season, and The Instrumentalist Magazine dubbed Joe "The Next Méndez." Dr. Robert Méndez, son of the legendary trumpeter, wrote of Joe: "He's mastered my father's works."

Joe is also a former member of New York City's Meridian Arts Ensemble (1995-2001) and, with that group, performed worldwide at concert halls and clubs including NYC's Knitting Factory and CBGB's, and Amsterdam's Bimhuis. He received the ASCAP "Adventurous Programming Award" (shared with the Kronos Quartet) and recorded several of his own compositions and arrangements. Gramophone Magazine heralded Joe's original work Lullaby as "an understated gem."

Joe began the cornet at age 6, by 12 was improvising jazz and soloing with area bands and jazz clubs, and by 15 was the youngest professional in the Virginia Opera Orchestra. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University (studying with Regents’ Professor David Hickman). Other teachers and mentors include Anthony Plog, Stephen Carlson, Jonathan Greenburg, Gary Gompers, and David Fedderly. Joe was awarded Arizona State University's inaugural Distinguished Alumnus Award and the inaugural Outstanding Alumnus Award from Eastern Music Festival.