Bio

Dr. Chip Crotts is Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Director of Bands at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. Highly active as a professional trumpet player, Chip has performed and recorded for the Disney Company in Europe and the United States, and as a first call player, maintains an active career of national touring shows, regional symphony dates and local performances throughout the year. A Grammy nominated performer, Dr. Crotts has recorded and worked with hundreds of artists over the years, including Boston Brass, the Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, The Temptations and Maynard Ferguson, among others.

A passionate educator, Chip is highly involved in the fields of music education and jazz, and stays active as a clinician and adjudicator for such organizations as Bands of America and Drum Corps International. Recent years has seen Chip teaching several of the top drum corps in the world, most notably, Phantom Regiment and Blue Devils, with which he won multiple world championships in 2008 and 2010, respectively.

At the Institute, Dr. Crotts is highly engaged in research driven by his interests in both music and health. Having a direct correlation to high level wind playing, the study of breathing and its practical application in health is at the forefront of his work and he strives for a world where the average person is engaged in wind instrument plying for the dual purpose of musical enjoyment and improved health outcomes. Chip also devotes time to the study of versatility in musicianship, as well as a focus on jazz pedagogy, education and its practical application to the arts and society in general.

Currently, Chip stays active performing with many Atlanta based groups, such as the Joe Gransden Big Band, Drive-By Big Band, the Usual Suspects and Jazz Orchestra Atlanta.  Dr. Crotts also works regionally with the orchestras of Chattanooga, Huntsville, and Alabama, as well as being a member of the Tuscaloosa Horns, playing alongside the likes of Frankie Vallee, Brandon Bennett, The Four Tops and the OJ’s.

A Yamaha Performing Artist and Clinician, Chip previously served on the faculties of Samford University, Jacksonville State University and The University of Texas at Austin. 

Educational Background:

1994- BM in Music Business, East Carolina University

1998- MM in Orchestral Performance, Penn State University

2002 - DMA in Performance with a Jazz Emphasis, University of Texas-Austin

Fields:

• Jazz & Commercial Music
• Brass Pedagogy and Education
• Techniques for Instrumental Music Ensembles
• Music and Health