Jazz at Rowan welcomes trumpeter Alphonso Horne

Trumpeter, composer, music director, educator and
Rowan’s newest music faculty 

One of the most sought-after musicians today has a new home in Rowan’s Department of Music. This fall, multi-GRAMMY award nominee Alphonso Horne joins Denis DiBlasio and the rest of the jazz faculty training and teaching undergraduate music majors. 

Known for his high-level of musicianship, Horne maintains an active career as a sideman performing at world-class venues and festivals around the world. Some credits include the Tony Award-winning Broadway production “After Midnight”, Tony Award-nominated “Shuffle Along,” touring with Allen Stone and Rhiannon Giddens, and performing with the Count Basie Orchestra, Maryiln Maye and Rihanna. He also performed with Lady Gaga and Tony Bennet for the 2014 PBS special. Horne has subbed for and toured with jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, who named Horne one of the rising stars of the next generation. Off the stage, Horne was also the Music Director for Ziegfield’s Midnight Frolic and the Assistant Director for The Last Time musical. 

Jazz has a longstanding legacy at Rowan, spearheaded by director of jazz studies Denis DiBlasio. It’s DiBlasio’s kindness, graciousness and generosity that brought Horne to Glassboro, who calls him an incredible musician, composer and educator. According to DiBlasio, the driving principle of Rowan’s jazz program is teachers who love to share their knowledge and techniques in training young jazz musicians. Horne is a perfect fit. 

“My role as an educator is to guide the student in discovering their passions and providing them with the tools to navigate a creative journey that is personal to them,” says Horne, adding “if you feed your passions, your passions will feed you.” 

In addition to his new role at Rowan, Horne is currently on tour with Micheal Feinstein in his “Tribute to Tony Bennett” with the Carnegie Hall Ensemble and will also perform in the upcoming Louis Armstrong Broadway musical, “A Wonderful World.” 

For more information about Jazz at Rowan, visit go.rowan.edu/music.