Dr. Alan Wenger Professor of Trumpet at the University of Central Missouri
Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance, 1988
Alan Wenger is Professor of Trumpet at the University of Central Missouri, where he has been a member of the faculty since 2003. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. Wenger's education includes a Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduate studies at Boston University, and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Outstanding Alumnus Award in Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
His performance career has been both extensive and diverse. For six years, he served as Principal Solo Cornet of the internationally acclaimed and award winning Fountain City Brass Band in Kansas City, and performed with them as both member and soloist in numerous concerts across the United States and in the U.K. He is a frequent sub with the Kansas City Symphony, and has previously been a member of the Amarillo Symphony and Opera orchestras, the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. He has toured as a chamber musician with the Empire Brass, Bluebonnet Brass, Nebraska Brass and Kansas Brass Quintet and performed on natural trumpet throughout the United States and Europe. Jazz and commercial experiences include performances with the Four Tops, Manheim Steamroller, Lou Rawls, the Temptations, Tommy Tune and the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, contemporary Christian artists Michael W Smith and Ken Medema, and with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra and Boulevard Big Band. He has a keen interest in contemporary music and has performed numerous world premieres as a soloist and as a member of various ensembles, including as a featured performer at the 2014 College Music Society National Convention in St. Louis.
Dr. Wenger’s former students have gone on to equally varied careers across the country as public school educators, members of full-time orchestras and military bands, jazz and commercial performers, and studio players. As an educator, he has presented numerous clinics in public schools and at the Missouri Music Educators Conference. He is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, appearing as a performer, clinician, or adjudicator at nine different conferences in five countries, as well as being a contributor to the Book Reviews and Recording Reviews columns of the ITG Journal. The UCM Trumpet Ensemble was invited to perform at the 2013 ITG conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and at the 2014 Missouri Music Educators State Convention, where they premiered new works by composers David Aaberg, Eric Honour and David Shipps. Dr. Wenger’s arrangements of Bach Chorales for trumpet ensemble, inspired by his group at UCM, is published by Balquhidder Music.
Photography by Emily Jordan
