Bob Lark
Trumpet and Flugelhorn player, composer, arranger, conductor and educator
Bob is a trumpet and flugelhorn player whose performances are especially notable for his lyrical style
and fine tone. His harmonically oriented improvisations shift between aggressive and cool playing.
In speaking of Lark, jazz icon Clark Terry says, “He’s a very good trumpet player, a very good musician.
He’s paid his dues’’.
Recently released on the Jazzed Media label is the critically acclaimed CD recording Cathy's Song, by
Bob Lark and Friends with Phil Woods, Rufus Reid and Jim McNeely. This follows the success of the
Jazzed Media CD recordings Suggestions, and Live at the Jazz Showcase and In Her Eyes, by The Bob
Lark/Phil Woods Quintet, a group which includes prominent jazz artists Jim McNeely, Steve Gilmore and
Bill Goodwin. Bob’s playing and writing are also featured on the compact disc recordings Until You
(2003) and First Steps (1997) on the Hallway label.
He is an exclusive Yamaha Performing Artist.
Bob Lark serves as the Director of Jazz Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he directs
the university Jazz Ensemble and the Phil Woods Ensemble, teaches jazz trumpet and courses in jazz
pedagogy and jazz style. Under his direction the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble has produced several
Outstanding Performance Awards from the Jazz Educators Journal, Down Beat and Jazz Times
magazines, and has recorded albums with legendary jazz artists Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Louie Bellson,
Bob Brookmeyer, Tom Harrell, Jim McNeely, Frank Wess, Slide Hampton, Bobby Shew, and Chicago
Symphony Orchestra members Charles Vernon and John Bruce Yeh. Bob is an active clinician, soloist
and guest conductor, and is the past-president of the Illinois Unit of the International Association for Jazz
Education, has chaired the International Trumpet Guild jazz improvisation competition, served as the
host for the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, and throughout the 1990’s
directed the Midwest GRAMMY High School Jazz Band. Prior to his appointment to DePaul University,
Bob was an Assistant Professor of Music at Emporia State University, Kansas, where he taught applied
trumpet lessons, a course in jazz pedagogy, directed the university jazz bands, and served as the director
of The Great Plains Jazz Camp.
He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in performance from the University of North Texas, having
earlier earned a Master’s degree from that school and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from The
Ohio State University.
www.boblark.com