Nathan Eklund

Biography

Nathan Eklund is a Jazz Trumpet instructor at MSU. He offers private trumpet instruction, directs combos and trumpet sectionals, and also teaches jazz theory based courses on occasion as well. 

Grammy Award winning trumpeter Nathan Eklund leads an active schedule as a professional trumpeter and jazz educator. He played lead trumpet and was a featured soloist on the Dafnis Prieto Big Band’s 2018 Grammy winning album Back To The Sunset. Nathan has earned two Jazz Performance degrees, his Bachelor’s from William Paterson University and his Master’s from New Jersey City University, under the tutelage of Joe Magnarelli, Scott Wendholt, Dave Rogers and Bud Burridge. He has released five albums as a leader and has recorded as a sideman with numerous artists including Christian McBride, Phil Woods, Dafnis Prieto, Roseanna Vitro, Richie Cole, Chuck Loeb and Spyro Gyra. Nathan is equally busy in the NYC big band scene, having performed with the Christian McBride Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars Big Band, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Mingus Big Band, Roy Hargrove Big Band, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, Phil Woods Festival Orchestra, Ron Carter's Great Big Band, Jimmy Heath Big Band, Slide Hampton Big Band, Dafnis Prieto Big Band, Pedro Giraudo Big Band, Arturo O’Farrill’s Latin Jazz Orchestra and the Oliver Lake Big Band, among others. As an educator, Nathan is the Jazz Coordinator and Jazz Ensemble Director at New Jersey City University (Jersey City, NJ), and an adjunct Trumpet and Ensemble Faculty at Montclair State University (Montclair, NJ). He is also the Director of the nationally renowned Jazz House Big Band, the top large ensemble at Montclair, NJ’s Jazz House Kids’ program. Nathan regularly presents clinics nationwide, adjudicates jazz festivals, and maintains his own private trumpet teaching studio.