Richard Rulli, associate professor of trumpet in the Department of Music, has been invited to teach at TrumpetFest June 16-23 in Orvieto, Italy. The festival, held by Orvieto Musica, invites musicians from around the world to study with masters in their respective instruments. 

He will be conducting the large trumpet ensemble twice during the week, including one piece in the final concert, composed of the students attending the festival. He will also be working with small groups of students throughout the week in both master class and chamber performance settings and teaching some individual lessons. Each day of the festival, students will participate in daily warm-up, master class and pedagogy sessions with the festival faculty. They will interact with the other festival musicians and delve into Italian culture in the ancient city of Orvieto.

In addition to teaching, Rulli will also have several concert performances in Italy. He will give one solo performance as part of the large final concert (Centennial Horizons by Kevin McKee) and play as a member of the trumpet faculty in a quartet on the final concert. Sometime during the week, the faculty will perform the Vivaldi Concerto for Four Trumpets and Organ in the Duomo.

Eight students in the U of A trumpet studio have been accepted to the festival and will accompany Rulli to Italy. They will perform two pieces as an ensemble on the final Saturday concert, The Sound of Colors by Jemetris Brown and Music for Five Trumpets by Wesley Nance.  While in Italy, the students will travel to Rome and Vatican City for three days to visit historic sites including the Coliseum and St. Peter's Basilica.