Cameron Crotts
Professor of the Practice
Director of Jazz Studies
Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
Cameron Crotts
Professor of the Practice
Director of Jazz Studies
Assistant Director of Athletic Bands
Areas of Research or Creative Practice: Jazz Pedagogy, Brass Pedagogy, Versatility in Performance, Breathing for Wind Instrumentalists and All Musicians
Education
Doctor of Musical Arts in Trumpet Performance with a Jazz Emphasis, University of Texas at Austin, 2002
Master of Music in Orchestral Performance, Pennsylvania State University, 1998
Bachelor of Music in Business, East Carolina University, 1994
Biography
Dr. Chip Crotts serves as Professor of Pratice and Director of Jazz Studies at the 17cҳ. A GRAMMY nominated artist, Crotts has performed and recorded for the Disney Company in Europe and the United States, and maintains an active career as a first call musician for national touring shows and orchestral dates throughout the United States. Chip has toured and worked with numerous international artists and ensembles, including Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Zac Brown Band,The Manhattan Transfer, Frankie Valli, Jamie Cullum, The O’Jay’s, The Temptations and Maynard Ferguson, among others.
He can be heard on recent albums with John Driskell Hopkins, Jennifer Holliday and Joe Gransden, as well as on the SeaBreeze Jazz label, with groups such as the Bob Meyer Concept Orchestra and Third Coast Jazz Orchestra. Chip was also a featured musician on the Grammy nominated “Celebration of Life” with Little Joe Y La Familia. Dr. Crotts has also been a featured soloist in some of the world’s premier musical venues, including Birdland, Blues Alley, Blue Note, Le Duc des Lombards (Paris, France), the Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall.
As an educator and clinician, Dr. Crotts presents clinics nationally on Brass Pedagogy, Jazz Pedagogy, Breathing for Wind Players and Versatility in Performance. Highly involved in the marching arts, Chip has taught on the educational staffs of The Santa Clara Vanguard, The Cavaliers, Phantom Regiment, Spirit of Atlanta and is currently the Brass Caption Head of the 21-time World Champion Blue Devils.
Dr. Crotts is active as an adjudicator and serves in this capacity with organizations such as Bands of America, Drum Corps International, Drum Corps Japan, Taiwan Marching Academy, Music for All, Winter Guard International and many state music educator associations. As a clinician, Dr. Crotts serves nationally for jazz, marching and wind festivals, in addition to presenting topics such as Brass Pedagogy, Jazz Pedagogy, Breathing for Wind Players, Versatility in Performance and the Outdoor Performing Ensemble. His presentations have been given at prestigious conferences such as the International Trumpet Guild, New York Brass Conference, Jazz Education Network, International Association of Jazz Educators, Conn Selmer Institute, USBands Summer Symposium and The Midwest Clinic, among others.
Currently, Dr. Crotts serves as Vice-President of the 17cҳ Association of Jazz Educators, as well as being a member of NAfME, the American Federation of Musicians, the Jazz Education Network and The International Trumpet Guild. He is a past fellowship recipient from the Aspen Music Festival and Music at the Banff Centre (Canada) for Classical and Commercial Trumpet Performance, as well as a grant recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, 17cҳ Tech Foundation, and recent selection as a 17cҳ Tech “Class of 1969 Teaching Fellow”.
Statement of Teaching Interest
Dr. Crotts teaches in the undergraduate areas of Marching band, jazz Ensembles, Jazz Combos. He also teaches sections of History of Jazz during the GT Maymester and Full Summer terms each year. he has also taught Fundamentals of Music and Composers courses during his time and the Institute. His other teaching interests include Jazz Pedagogy, Brass Pedagogy, Versatility in Performance, Breathing for Wind Instrumentalists and All Musicians.
Statement of Research Interest
Dr. Crotts current creative and research practice is focused on a high level of performance, education, clinical outreach and national visibility in general. In all, over 80 professional performances, clinics and masterclasses including events with artists such as Rick Ross, Nas, Angelique Kidjo, Kurt Elling, Frankie Valli, SC Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, Matt Catingub and Cowboy Bebop Big Band were performed during 2024-2025. My touring lecture “Overcoming Adversity Through Positivity” was featured in the March 2024 edition of the International Trumpet guild Journal. This lecture continues to gain popularity and has been presented in one form or another over 25 times since my Bells Palsy diagnosis in 2017. In an expanded educational outreach role as a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician and Bach Trumpet Artist, I am able to serve and affect thousands of music students and programs nationally and internationally. In 2024 and 2025, I served as a chief clinician for the Conn-Selmer Symposium marching Intensive in South Bend, Indiana, working with over 250 young and aspiring brass students and numerous directors. Lastly, I serve annually as an adjudicator for pageantry arts with organizations such as Brands of America, WGI, DCI and Dci Japan. In all, I yearly adjudicate and serve over 100,000 students and 500 band programs nationwide.