Trumpeter Kevin Cobb will join the IU Jacobs School of Music staff in the fall, IU announced April 1 in a press release.
Pending the IU Board of Trustees' approval, Cobb will serve as one of three trumpet faculty members alongside professors John Rommel and Joey Tartell, Department of Brass Chair Peter Ellefson said.
Cobb has strong experience in chamber music due to his work in the American Brass Quintet, Ellefson said.
“It’s going to add a nice tangent to what the students are already getting with Professor Rommel and Professor Tartell,” Ellefson said.
Rommel said due to Cobb’s other experience, he cannot be identified primarily as a chamber music performer
Cobb has worked with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York City Ballet Orchestra, according to the release.
He has also played for Broadway shows , television and film. Cobb said his most recent Broadway show was "Wicked" and he also recorded for the "West Side Story" film remake which will be released in December. He also recorded the original "Daily Show" theme and played for some Olive Garden commercials.
“He kind of brings a real great all-around picture that I think is great for our students,” Rommel said.
With orchestral, commercial and chamber music experience, Rommel said he feels Cobb’s addition will create a well-rounded trumpet faculty.
Cobb said he lives in New York and is a faculty member at The Juilliard School through the ensemble-in-residence, the American Brass Quintet. He also teaches at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Yale University.
Cobb said he was ready for a change, and while nothing is wrong with the schools he teaches at, he likes the atmosphere at the Jacobs School of Music.
“Hearing from students and faculty alike, it seems like there’s a positive force that’s happening,” Cobb said. “That really stood out to me.”
He also grew up in Ohio, so he said he hopes he will enjoy returning to the Midwest.
“When you’re from the Midwest, the Midwest always remains home for you, for better or for worse,” Cobb said.
Rommel, also the chair of the search committee, said the committee was looking for experience, a fit for the students and department and an overall nice person to work and make decisions with.
“I know we all feel that he’s just going to fit in like the perfect-fitting glove,” Rommel said of the Brass Department. “When he came in for his interview, it was almost like he’d been here for years.”
