Dr. Micah Killion is the former principal trumpet of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., where he served from 2013-2018 and recorded 7 albums. Illuminations, released in 2018, features him as a soloist on John Mackey’s Antique Violences. He can be heard playing on two recordings of the music of Du Yun: the Pulitzer winning chamber opera Angel’s Bone and the Grammy nominated trumpet ensemble piece “Air Glow.” Among others, Micah has performed or recorded with the Knights Orchestra, Sigur Ros, Barclay Brass, Diana Ross, NOVUS NY, Shakira, Father John Misty, the Colorado Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Walt Disney World’s Christmas Brass, and various Broadway shows.
Micah has given master classes at over 30 colleges and universities including The Colburn School, The Juilliard School, University of Oregon, University of Florida, Baylor University, Bowling Green State University, and The University of Connecticut. In 2017, he partnered with the Ramallah Orchestra and the al-Kamandjati school in Ramallah to perform around the West Bank. In 2019 he was awarded a Rainwater Grant for American Music, to bring instruments and brass instruction to a school for homeless boys in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Micah is the coordinator for the new Musical Lives Initiative at the Center for Music Learning at the University of Texas at Austin. His research, including eye-tracking studies and the analysis of expert practice, explores the cognitive and perceptual-motor processes underpinning music learning. He holds a PhD in Music and Human Learning from UT Austin, an MA in Music Education from Teachers College at Columbia University, and a BM in Trumpet Performance from the Juilliard School where he studied with Philip Smith.
