Courses:
Band
Brass
Music Education
Conducting
General Education Music
Contact:
John Wacker
Q201
970/943-2169
jwacker@western.edu
Dr. John Wacker holds a Doctorate of Music Arts degree from the University of North Texas where he studied trumpet with Keith Johnson. While at UNT he also studied Baroque Trumpet with Leonard Candalaria and Kathryn James and was a member of the UNT Baroque Trumpet Ensemble. He has studied wind conducting with Dr. Jack Stamp at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, completing a Masters degree in 2000. He also holds a Bachelors degree in music education from the University of Northern Colorado and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Wyoming.
While at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Wacker studied trumpet with Steven Dube and Dr. Calvin Weber. Prior to his appointment at the Western State College, Dr. Wacker taught at Texas Womans University where he conducted the Wind Ensemble and taught studio trumpet.
Dr. Wacker is the director of the Western Chamber Music Institute. The Institute is devoted to improving the musical skills of high school and middle school age instrumentalist through a varied curriculum of chamber music study and performance.
Dr. Wacker’s performance experience is extensive and varied. He has performed for numerous professional and semi-professional productions presented in Cheyenne WY, Fort Collins CO and Dallas TX. Dr. Wacker has played lead trumpet and section trumpet in pit orchestras and in back-up bands for such shows as: West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Into the Woods, The Boyfriend, Oklahoma, South Pacific; and artists such as: Trisha Yearwood, the Manhattan Transfer, the Yellowstone Big Band, the Vocal Majority, Collin Raye, and Bob Hope.
Dr. Wacker has also performed with numerous professional and regional orchestras, including the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Collins Symphony, the Wyoming Symphony, the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Colinas Symphony. He has extensive experience in brass chamber music as a founding member of the Cheyenne Brass and Appalachian Brass He also performed as a member of the Newcastle Brass and Myriad Brass Orchestra. In addition he can be heard on the Klavier and GIA recording labels with the North Texas Wind Symphony and on the Citadel label with the Keystone Wind Ensemble. Dr. Wacker has appeared as an adjudicator and clinician in Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Texas. He has presented at the Wyoming Music Educators Conference and the Colorado Music Educators Conference. Dr. Wacker is a member of the Music Educators National Conference and the International Trumpet Guild. He continues to perform regularly in Colorado and in the Dallas / Fort Worth area.