# Ambrose Akinmusire takes the helm at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2023/07/22/ambrose-akinmusire-takes-the-helm-at-the-herbie-hancock-institute-of-jazz-performance-video-photos/
- Published: 2023-07-22T00:02:52+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Ambrose Akinmusire was 25, a trumpeter and composer obviously on the rise, when
he completed his course of study at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance
in 2007.**

Within a matter of months, he went on to win the institute’s flagship competition,
generating a momentum that brought him to the roster of Blue Note Records, and a
heralded solo career.

Akinmusire is now 41, and no longer a Blue Note artist; he just self-released a 
transfixing solo trumpet album, and is soon expected to reveal a new label affiliation.
In the meantime, there’s another welcome announcement: he will be the next Artistic
Director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance (formerly known as 
the Monk Institute).

He’ll begin his tenure with six young musicians who constitute the Class of 2025,
working at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Ambrose Akinmusire during his time with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance,
now named the Hancock Institute.

![ Ambrose Akinmusire during his time with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz
Performance, now named the Hancock Institute.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/
default/28af3f5/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1000x750+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/
90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6c%2Faa%2Fda42fa8c47c382186c2c2285c7e9%
2Fambrose-monk.jpeg)

Ambrose Akinmusire during his time with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance,
now named the Hancock Institute.

“Ambrose is the perfect person to inspire the students of the Institute of Jazz 
Performance,” attests pianist Herbie Hancock, the institute’s board chair and namesake,
in a statement. “I remember working with him when he was a student in the program,
and watching him develop over the years has been really exciting. Now he will be
able to cultivate a new wave of creative artists through his role in the program.”

During Akinmusire’s time in the program, its artistic director was a fellow trumpeter-
composer, Terence Blanchard. His classmates included some musicians still in his
collaborative circle, like vibraphonist Chris Dingman, bassist Joe Sanders and tenor
saxophonist Walter Smith III.

Akinmusire and Smith worked with Hancock and Alpert to judge auditions for the Class
of 2025. Its members include trumpeter Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, of Dnipro, Ukraine, and
drummer Ebunoluwa Daramola, with roots in both Assen, Netherlands and Lagos, Nigeria.
The rest of the cohort hails from the United States: alto saxophonist Alden Hellmuth,
of Hartford, CT; tenor saxophonist Sasha Ripley, of Houston, TX; pianist Miles Lennox,
of Fort Lauderdale, FL; and bassist Destiny Diggs-Pinto, of Newark, NJ.

“Having been a student and later a judge, mentor and teacher in this program,” Akinmusire
says in a statement, “I look forward to sharing my knowledge and continuing the 
legacy and impact of the Herbie Hancock Institute.”

![ ](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4496a88/2147483647/strip/true/crop/
1000x620+0+0/resize/880x546!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.
com%2F9f%2Ffe%2Fffded1ba4388a22007cb65ff206c%2Fambrose.jpeg)

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