Jacob Dalager to New Mexico State University
This fall, Dr. Jacob Dalager joined New Mexico State University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Director of Jazz after serving two years as a visiting professor in the same role.
Dalager is an international crossover soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, award-winning composer, and innovative pedagogue, taking a modern and individualized approach to solving the trumpet's technical challenges and laying the groundwork for each student's multi-faceted music career.
Dalager's first solo recording, Paradigms: The Music of Anthony Plog (Tonsehen, 2021) featured seven previously unrecorded pieces by Plog. With a warm sound, nuanced phrasing, and technically spectacular passages, it has received critical acclaim in Fanfare, ITG Journal, Meet the Artist, and American Record Guide.
Jacob premiered his second concerto, Organ Mountain Fantasia, with the NMSU Wind Symphony in 2022 to enthusiastic reception. He performed his first concerto, 3ɟutures (which took second prize at the 2022 Music International Grand Prix), with the Austin Symphony Orchestra in 2019 after playing three concerti with the orchestra in 2016. Prior to that, he soloed with the Jesselton Philharmonic, Te Deum Chamber Orchestra, and the St. Olaf Band and Orchestra.
Dalager is a member of the Las Cruces Symphony and frequent guest of the El Paso Symphony. Before moving to New Mexico, he was principal trumpet of the Washington Chamber Orchestra for six seasons and has been a guest performer with the National Philharmonic, Post-Classical Ensemble, Rochester Philharmonic, Symphoria, Singapore Symphony, National Taiwan Symphony, and Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestras, among others.
As a chamber musician, Dalager has re-formed the NMSU Brass Quintet and led the acclaimed Parkway Brass and M-Street Brass Quintets in Maryland. His groundbreaking quintet, Suite Analogique, has been performed across the country and won the 2020 Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers and 2022 Foundation for Modern Music Audience Choice Award.
A versatile crossover musician, Jacob plays solo trumpet with the Border Jazz Orchestra and leads the NMSU Faculty Jazz Sextet; he was lead trumpet of the Wammy-award-winning bands Black Masala and Shamans of Sound. He headlined the 2022 FIMUS Jazz Festival in Brazil and performed at the Singapore International Jazz Festival and World Youth Jazz Festival.
Dr. Dalager's teaching focuses on efficiency, relaxation, and the mind-body connection for establishing a good sound, strength, and endurance. He emphasizes good practice habits, technical practice, and musicianship skills to provide the necessary fundamentals for the wide range of music that is demanded of modern players, from classical, to jazz, and popular music.
Dalager holds a D.M.A. from Catholic University (2020), M.M. from the Eastman School of Music (2012), and a B.A. and B.M. from St. Olaf College (2009). (Source: Jacob Dalager)