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Alec Burke has a passion for teaching, performance, and community engagement. Currently, Alec is on faculty at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music (WCM) for Trumpet and the Jazz & Contemporary Music Institute. Along with his responsibilities at the WCM, he is a brass instructor at the Brookfield Center for the Arts and Brass Bell Music. Alec performs with his acoustic pop duo Ekruteak and contemporary chamber ensemble Microcosm with his fiancé, Jennifer Rodriguez (flute). He holds an M.M. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and a B.S. in Music Education from Ball State University (BSU).

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Alec was the recipient of the UWM Trumpet Teaching Assistantship (2019-2021), Graduate Chancellor’s Award (2021), the UWM Koeppen-Gerlach Scholarship (2021), and the So Percussion Summer Institute Scholarship (2021). Through his work with non-profit music organizations, Alec strives to bring music to underserved communities. In 2021, Microcosm brought virtual Music Storybook presentations to elementary classrooms of the Milwaukee Public Schools through WCM’s Conservatory Connections Program. These interactive educational performances introduced students to instruments of the brass and woodwind families and taught students about various types of dance music from around the world.

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Alec has performed in a variety of solo, chamber, large ensemble, and jazz and commercial settings. Alec is a frequent freelancer in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas, performing with the Connexion Band and regional orchestras including the Wisconsin Philharmonic Orchestra. He recently performed principal with the UWM Symphony Orchestra, principal and soloist with the UWM Wind Ensemble, and the Milwaukee Festival Brass on solo cornet. As a chamber musician, Alec has performed with the Muncie Symphony’s Music on the Move Brass Quintet, Classical Music Indy’s Random Acts of Music, the UWM Graduate Brass Quintet, and Microcosm. Alec was the 2017 Concerto Soloist for the Music for the Sake of Music Symphony Orchestra. In the commercial vein, Alec has played on animated short films and as a lead trumpet player for numerous musicals and shows across Central Indiana. A proponent of contemporary music, Alec has premiered and commissioned works by Milwaukee composers such as Austin Melcher (Helix Bells, 2020) and Steve Darling (Wasteland for Trumpet, Flute, and Piano, 2021). Alec attended the 2021 So Percussion Summer Institute where he collaborated with performers and composers to create and premiere new works.

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​Alec has a breadth of experience teaching both in and out of the classroom including traditional public school ensembles, clinics and masterclasses, general music and PreK, and managing his own private studio. After graduating from BSU in 2015, Alec served as the Muncie Symphony Orchestra’s Education Coordinator. As Education Coordinator, Alec developed curricula, designed educational performances and presentations, and managed programs for the MSO’s various education outreach initiatives for audiences of all ages. He was also the Trumpet Teaching Artist for Music for the Sake of Music in Green Bay, WI. Alec has been a clinician for UWM’s youth wind ensemble (UWAY), the Strings and Jazzy Things camp in Indianapolis, and WCM’s 2020 Summer Jazz Camp and 2021 Jazz Festival.