Fred Irby III
Fred Irby III is an American jazz professor, music director and trumpeter. He is a Professor of Music at Howard University in Washington, DC and the director of the Howard University Jazz Ensemble (HUJE).
Career[edit]
Irby is from Mobile, Alabama and holds degrees from Grambling State University and Southern Illinois University. He is a Professor of Music at Howard University in Washington, DC, where he has taught since 1974,[1] and the director of the Howard University Jazz Ensemble (HUJE).[2] Under his direction the HUJE has toured internationally and has 41 recordings.[3][4][5][6] He is also Principal Trumpet of the Kennedy Center Opera House Musical Theater Orchestra.[7] He holds active membership of many music associations and orchestras.[8]
Performances[edit]
Major orchestral performances in which Irby has taken part include the Twentieth Century Fox movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, the ABC-TV show Dancing with the Stars, the NBC-TV show America's Got Talent, the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards, the 87th, 88th and 89th Academy Awards Gala (OSCARS), the Kennedy Center Honors Gala, and the Christmas in Washington Gala.
Commissions[edit]
He has commissioned and premiered compositions by two eminent African American composers: TROMBA: Suite for B Flat Trumpet and Piano by Ulysses S. Kay; and Spiritual Fantasy #1 for Piccolo Trumpet and Piano by Frederick Tillis.
Awards[edit]
Irby received the 2008 Downbeat magazine Achievement Award In Jazz Education, and in 2008 was inducted into the Grambling State University Alumni Hall of Fame.[9] He received the Disney Performing Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching Jazz in 2009 at the MENC Teaching Music Awards ceremony, and was designated a Lowell Mason Fellow in 2010. In 2016, he received the Ronnie Wells Jazz Service Award at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, the DC Jazz Festival awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award at their 2016 Gala at the Kennedy Center and he was inducted into the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Alumni Hall of Fame.[10]
References[edit]
- ^ "Fred Irby, III, Professor – Trumpet, Jazz Ensemble; Coordinator of Instrumental Music". profiles.howard.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- ^ "FRED IRBY, III - Director, Howard University Jazz Ensemble". huje.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- ^ "Howard University Jazz Ensemble - Recordings". huje.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- ^ "events | Dakar, Senegal - Embassy of the United States". Dakar.usembassy.gov. 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ^ "WARA/WARC: Reaching out to HBCU's » West African Research Association | Blog Archive | Boston University". Bu.edu. 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ^ "Howard University Jazz Ensemble - TV Appearances". huje.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- ^ "Fred Irby, III". Kennedy-center.org. Retrieved 2021-01-19.
- ^ "A Night at the Kennedy Center: DC JazzFest Salutes Howard University Jazz | DC Jazz Festival". Dcjazzfest.org. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ^ "16 members to be inducted into Hall of Fame". The Gramblinite. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ^ "DC Jazz Festival Newsletters - DCJazzFest Honors Howard University at The Kennedy Center". Freshpickeddeals.com. 2016-06-12. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
External links[edit]
- Biography, Howard University Jazz Ensemble