ABOUT
What do you love about music?
It brings joy to everyone, makes you smarter and creative, and takes away the stress of the world!
Who is your favorite artist?
That is an impossible answer for me, but I will go with Wynton Marsalis for his humble personality and desire to teach people.
What are some of your favorite desert-island albums?
Haydn, Hummel, L. Mozart: Trumpet Concertos — Joseph Haydn, Leopold Mozart, and Johann Nepomuk Hummel (Performed by Wynton Marsalis with the National Philharmonic Orchestra)
Blue Light, Red Light — Harry Connick Jr.
Kind of Blue — Miles Davis
Dizzy Gillespie at Newport — Dizzy Gillespie
Trumpet Summit — Allen Vizzutti, Bobby Shew, and Vincent DiMartino
Do you play in a band or currently perform?
Just teaching right now — taking time off to raise my family.
PHOTOS
BIOGRAPHY
Jeff Amstutz is a trumpet professional and an Indiana-certified licensed instrumental music teacher with 24 years of experience in training private trumpet and brass students. Since earning his bachelor’s degree in music education from Taylor University, he has played in local bands and music groups and performed with professional recording jazz artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Maynard Ferguson, and Roger Ingram. He directs the award-winning Lakeside Middle School instrumental music program and is a member of the FWCS music enhancement committee for the largest school district in Indiana.
Jeff’s students excel in contests, state competitions, and honor bands throughout the country, including in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Youth Symphony Orchestra, All-State Concert and Jazz Bands, Drum Corps groups, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camps and Interlochen Arts Camps. His students have gone on to advanced studies, teaching, and playing professionally. Jeff can’t wait to work with you as you grow in your trumpet playing journey!