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Faculty Member

Dr. Ryan Nielsen

Biography

Known for his “breathtaking” sound as a "musician of the highest order,” Ryan Nielsen is a rare trumpet artist equally at home in classical music, jazz, and contemporary styles.

A devoted teacher and clinician, his popular YouTube channel, Ryan’s Trumpet, has thousands of subscribers from around the globe. His book, The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation, written with his dear friend and mentor John McNeil, was published in May 2024 by Oxford University Press and became a #1 New Release on Amazon. Graduates of Dr. Nielsen's studio are working throughout the United States and beyond. In addition to music careers, he loves helping students catalyze their music training for success in other fields.

Nielsen has toured, performed, and/or recorded with the Kobie Watkins Grouptet (Origin Recording Artists), Ra Kalam Bob Moses (Smithsonian-recognized artist), Delfeayo Marsalis (National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Master), and the Summit Brass, to international acclaim. In 2024, Nielsen released an all-video solo album—Triple B Blues—with such jazz luminaries as Bobby Broom, Ryan Hanseler, Christian Dillingham and Will Ledbetter, and Kobie Watkins.

Nielsen has presented at the International Conference on the Arts in Society, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Association of Jungian Studies, was a juror for the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, and was recently named the Jazz Editor of the International Trumpet Guild Journal.

Nielsen has an abiding interest in trauma therapy as well, and is currently earning his certification in BodyDreaming: An Approach to the Treatment of Developmental Trauma.

Education

PhD, New England Conservatory of Music, 2013

Major: Jazz Performance

MFA, Arizona State University , 2006

Major: Trumpet Performance (Classical)

BS, Brigham Young University-Idaho, 2004

Major: Music Education

Teaching

MUSC 450R

Advanced Private Lessons for Music Majors, Spring 2025

MUSC 2210

Contemporary Theory and Improvisation II, Spring 2025

MUSC 2125

Music Theory IV, Spring 2025

MUSC 250R

Private Lessons for Music Majors, Spring 2025

MUSC 145R

Private Lessons I, Spring 2025

MUSC 245R

Private Lessons II, Spring 2025

Presentations

Nielsen, Ryan , Nielsen, Holly (Co-Author), 11th Annual Symposium on Art and Psyche, "Magdalene's Middle Way_ Attuning to Soul through Sound and Image", Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick, Ireland. (April, 2026)
Nielsen, Ryan , Nielsen, Holly , 11th Annual Symposium on Art and Psyche, "Panel Discussion", Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick, Ireland. (April, 2026)
Nielsen, Ryan , Nielsen, Holly (Co-Author), 11th Annual Symposium on Art and Psyche, "Seeping Stone and Mossen Branch_ Lunation in Alchemy ", Limerick School of Art and Design, Limerick, Ireland. (April, 2026)
Nielsen, Ryan , Metamorphosis Global Summit_ Initiations, Thresholds, and Becoming , "Of Moss, Music, and Mary Magdalene_ Insights from the Middle Places", Metamorphosis. (April, 2026)
Nielsen, Ryan , Rencontres de Provence, "L'ordinaire Radical_ Alchimie et Jazz", Aix-en-Provence. (April, 2026)
Nielsen, Ryan , University of Michigan Mini-Residency, "Healing the Split_ Creative Embodiment in the Practice Room", University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. (March, 2026)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Nielsen, Ryan , "The Contemporary and Jazz Theory of John McNeil" .
Nielsen, Ryan , (2025) "Radical Ordinariness_ John McNeil and the Alchemy of Jazz" . France: https://www.cgjung.net/espace/jps/articles/ryan-nielsen/alchemy-of-jazz/
Nielsen, Ryan , "You Gotta Get Your Fails_ An Interview with Trumpet Mafia Founder Ashlin Parker" .
Nielsen, Ryan , (2024) "The Trumpet Is a Liar_ An Interview with Tito Carrillo" .
Nielsen, Ryan , (2024) "One and the Same_ Music as Healing. An Interview with Kris Johnson. " .
Nielsen, Ryan , (2024) "The Classroom Guide to Jazz Improvisation" . New York: Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-classroom-guide-to-jazz-improvisation-9780197614655?lang=en&cc=us

Awards

UVU Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Works

Office of Academic Affairs - November 20, 2024

​Nominated by department chair.