Robert Sullivan served as Associate Principal Trumpet in the New York Philharmonic for eleven seasons and joined the Cleveland Orchestra as Assistant Principal Trumpet in September 2003. Robert joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in 1994 and joined the faculty of the Cleveland Institute of Music in the fall of 2004. Robert came to New York from the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, where he was second and associate principal trumpet for four years. During that time he was Adjunct Professor of trumpet at Charleston Southern University and the College of Charleston.
Robert began playing trumpet at age 10 in the Norwood, Massachusetts Public School System, and while in high school, became associate principal trumpet in the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble. Later, as a student of Armando Ghitalla at the University of Michigan, he was a featured soloist with many of the university ensembles; winner of the concerto competition at the National Music Camp, Interlochen; Associate First Trumpet with the All-American College Band of Disneyland; and winner of the Armando A. Ghitalla Fellowship to the Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood. He was later a member and soloist with the U.S. Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., as well as an extra player in the National Symphony. After leaving the Air Force, Robert became solo trumpet in the Chicago Chamber Brass.
Robert is an active recitalist and clinician; he toured the U.S. for two seasons with the trumpet and organ duo Toccatas and Flourishes, and his recitals, as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, have been recorded and broadcast on National Public Radio's Performance Today program. Solo appearances include performances of concertos by Hummel, Haydn, Bohme, Leopold Mozart, Torelli and Telemann as well as a concert tour with the Summit Brass; a Gabrieli recording with the Empire Brass in which he conducts members of the Empire Brass, Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic; and a critically acclaimed recital at the 2000 International Trumpet Guild Conference.
As a member of the Principal Brass of the New York Philharmonic, Robert performed recitals throughout Europe, South America and Asia and collaborated on concerts with the Canadian Brass and the German Brass. In November 2000, Robert received a special citation from the Congress of the United States in recognition of community service. Two recordings featuring Robert and pianist James Rensink, Treasures for Trumpet and Kaleidoscope, were released on the Summit Records label.
