Kyle Millsap is Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Along with overseeing the trumpet program, Dr. Millsap directs Jazz Band 3, the TAMUK Trumpet Ensemble, the Jazz Trumpet Ensemble, and performs with the Kingsville Brass Quintet. With a career that has allowed him to perform throughout North America and Europe, he is a versatile trumpeter with a diverse mix of performance genres.
He has performed as lead trumpet for shows and concerts with The Temptations, Mannheim Steamroller, Johnny Mathis, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Al Kapone, Jon Mayer, Rufus Reid, Roy McCurdy, Kirk Whalum, Kathy Kosins, the Jazz Orchestra of the Delta, the Memphis Jazz Orchestra, the Glynn Garcia Little Big Band, and the Sparkling City Jazz Orchestra, the host band for the Texas Jazz Festival. He has performed at halftime for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, on BET television, and multiple events for Elvis Presley Enterprises including the Elvis 35th Anniversary Concert. He has been frequently heard on the Memphis Public Radio WKNO Live Lunch series. Theater credits include performances for numerous Broadway national touring companies and regional theater premieres and productions.
Orchestral credits include the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de la UANL, Eroica Ensemble, Memphis Repertory Orchestra, Germantown Symphony Orchestra, and Corinth Symphony Orchestra, as well as productions with Ballet Memphis. He has been a featured soloist with the Corpus Christi Wind Symphony, the TAMUK Wind Symphony, and the TAMUK Chamber Orchestra.
An advocate for new music, he has commissioned and premiered several new works for trumpet including Shalom, Salaam, Peace… (2010) written for two trumpets and organ, Scatter the Darkness (2011) for trumpet and organ, A Whisper of Angels (2012) for trumpet quartet and narrator, 2x4: Domestic Tranquility (2013) for trumpet and flugelhorn duet, and Cuando las ranas crien pelo (2014) for trumpet sextet. His recording of these compositions is on the album Scatter the Darkness: New Music of Stanley Friedman. Additional album credits include principal trumpet with the Memphis Repertory Orchestra on their recordings Dvorak + Tchaikovsky and Voyagers, and lead trumpet on the Southern Comfort Jazz Orchestra recording Voices.
He has written articles and reviews for the International Trumpet Guild Journal and serves as a music reviewer. He is a member of the Artist Faculty for the National Trumpet Competition. His own compositions and arrangements have been published through Cimarron Music and Triplo Press. He has performed at the International Horn Symposium and presented at the Texas Music Educators Association and Tennessee Music Educators Association conventions.
Dr. Millsap holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Memphis, Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, and Bachelor of Music degree from Wichita State University.
