Will Rabun is the Professor of Trumpet at DePauw University where he also is the director of the Tiger Pep Band and the brass instrument chamber music coordinator. Professor Rabun maintains an active performance career in both studio and freelance music in Indianapolis where he has recorded for music publisher Carl Fischer and well-known composers including Randall Standridge. Currently, he is in the final stages of completing his Doctor of Music degree in trumpet performance and brass literature at the illustrious Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Professor Rabun is the former principal trumpet of the Artic Chamber Orchestra, the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, and of Opera Fairbanks. The latter under the direction of Gregory Buchalter, the Maestro di Banda for the Metropolitan Opera.
As a guest artist, Rabun has performed with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Wind Symphony, the Mat-Su concert band, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Jazz Festival, and the Valley Jazz Festival in Palmer, Alaska. He has had the opportunity to play lead trumpet in jazz big bands behind jazz legends, such as Bill Watrous and Tom “Bones” Malone. While a member of the United States Army, Professor Rabun also was the lead trumpet player and leader of the Frigid Brass Quintet.
“Playing trumpet has given me opportunities and life stories I would have never been able to get anywhere else. I have played trumpet in numerous states and countries in North America, Europe and the Middle East, and it has helped me connect with people and become the person I am today. Playing trumpet is more than a job, or a hobby. Trumpet is a way of life.”