Performer
Micah Killion is the former principal trumpet of the United States Air Force Band in Washington DC, where he served from 2013-2018 and recorded 7 albums. The last of which, Illuminations, released in 2018, features him as a soloist on John Mackey’s trumpet concerto, Antique Violences.
“Sorrow is a Blade” by John Mackey | US Air Force Band | Micah Killion, trumpet
In the aught’s, I co-created (with Gareth Flowers and CJ Camerieri) a half-joke trumpet ensemble called The Practical Trumpet Society (get it? TPTS, and there are few ensembles less practical than a trumpet ensemble). After a few years of sporadic recitaling, Dave Douglas and the Festival of New Trumpet Music commissioned Du Yun • 杜韵 to write “Air Glow,” a piece for us to premier at FONT. The piece is amazing and was nominated for the GRAMMYs in 2018. National Trumpet Competition? International Trumpet Guild (Official)? You guys should hear what a trumpet ensemble sounds like filtered through the meta mind of Du Yun!
He can be heard playing on two recent recordings of the music of Du Yun: the Pulitzer-winning chamber opera “Angel’s Bone”, and the Grammy-nominated trumpet ensemble “Air Glow”.
DU YUN: Air Glow (2006/2018)
David Miller and I hatched a plan to get the master, Mark Gould, to conduct the Barclay Brass. The result was a stunner. Dave’s arranging with Gould at the helm made a stirring tribute to those involved in the disaster. Vichnaya Pamyat from the HBO series Chernobyl - TV Mini-Series arranged by David Miller was recorded at Church of the Epiphany, Washington, DC in 2020. Musicians: Mark Gould, David Miller, Amy McCabe, Kris Westrich, Hiram Diaz, Wille Clark, Nathan Zgonc
Among others, Micah has performed or recorded with the Knights, Barclay Brass, Diana Ross, Shakira, Father John Misty, Miike Snow, the Colorado Symphony, Marlboro Festival Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Charleston Symphony, NOVUS New York, Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, The Airmen of Note, Walt Disney World’s Christmas Brass, and various shows on Broadway.