On today’s show, I will be speaking with Kevin Blancq, a NYC music teacher, whose original roots are from New Orleans. Kevin began his musical life listening to his parents, both teachers and performers, Betty, a pianist, and Charlie, a percussionist. At the age of 10, Kevin started trumpet lessons with George Jansen, the man who would change his life. With instruction from a very passionate and dedicated educator, Kevin flourished under Jansen’s tutelage and was accepted to attend the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, where he received classical and jazz training from Ellis Marsalis and Bert Braud. At the age of 17, Kevin was awarded a full scholarship to the Tanglewood Summer Music Institute where he performed under the batons of Leonard Bernstein and Gunther Schuller in the Tanglewood orchestras, and he studied privately with Boston Symphony trumpet legend Roger Voisin. Following his undergraduate work at the University of North Texas on scholarship, Kevin settled in New York City and has since worked with jazz greats including Frank Foster, Benny Golson, Wynton Marsalis, Slide Hampton, Sahib Shihab, Doc Cheatham, Bob Dorough, Eddie Bert, and Jimmy Heath, among others. His graduate work at the Manhattan School of Music with Justin DiCioccio, Chris Gekker, and Cecil Bridgewater was completed in 1998. As a trumpeter, conductor, and educator Kevin has appeared at Birdland, Iridium, Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, WKCR and WBGO.