Neil Mueller enjoys a career performing and teaching music, currently as Professor of Trumpet at Central Michigan University and Principal Trumpet of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra. Prior to his position with LSO, he spent four years as a member of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra trumpet section. He has previously held Principal Trumpet chairs in Cleveland’s BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, ensembles that also featured Mueller as concerto soloist. He also performed with the Boston Pops and the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, while completing doctoral studies.
Mueller has collaborated with groups including the Berkshire Bach Ensemble, the Brass Ring Quintet, Burning River Brass, and the River Raisin Ragtime Revue. He has made numerous recordings of chamber music, including Call and Response in 2015 from White Pine Recording, featuring new music for trumpet and piano, and for two trumpets.
The education of the next generation of trumpeters and educators shares equal importance with performing for Mueller. His students have been finalists for competitions at both the International Trumpet Guild as well as the National Trumpet Competition. Prior teaching includes stints at North Dakota State, Case Western, and Cleveland State Universities, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, and high schools in Ohio and Minnesota.
Neil’s greatest accomplishment is the continued forbearance of his family, including his wife Shawnthea Monroe and three adult children, Walter, Clara, and Renold. They can sing most trumpet excerpts on command.