Jeff Claassen

Trumpeter, composer, and educator Dr. Jeff Claassen has performed, recorded, and toured globally, playing such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Montreux Jazz Festival, Fenway Park, The Village Vanguard, The Panama Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Boston’s Wang Theater, and San Francisco’s Warfield Theater. Appearing on dozens of albums recording jazz, classical, rock, world music, film scores, and video game music, he has performed with a diverse group of notable musicians, including Miguel Zenón, Dave Liebman, Paquito D’Rivera, Bob Brookmeyer, Esperanza Spalding, Antonio Sánchez, Billy Childs, Sean Jones, John Fedchock, and Gunther Schuller.

Claassen received his doctorate and master’s degrees from New England Conservatory of Music in composition and jazz studies, where he studied with jazz legend Bob Brookmeyer along with Lee Hyla and John McNeil. He has toured with Bob Brookmeyer and his New Art Orchestra and Mehmet Sanlikol’s What's Next ensemble, and is the lead trumpet player in the Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, the Fernando Huergo Big Band, and Eguie Castrillo's Mar Del Norte salsa band. He can also be found playing in pit orchestras and live shows at theaters throughout Boston and New England. Claassen has given clinics and master classes globally, from Australia and Malaysia to Colombia and Panama.