Geoffrey McKay, originally from Richland WA, joined the University of Idaho brass area as a lecturer of applied trumpet in January of 2024. Additionally, Geoff is a member of the adjunct faculty at Spokane Community College where he teaches History of Popular Music and Music Appreciation.
Geoff holds an AA Transfer Degree from Columbia Basin College, a BA and MM in Trumpet Performance from Central Washington University, a Post-Masters Artist Certificate in Orchestral Trumpet from Georgia State University, and is a Doctoral Candidate (ABD) in Trumpet Performance at the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. Their principal trumpet teachers include Randy Hubbs, John Harbaugh, Alex Freund, and Garrett Klein. In addition to the performance degrees, Geoff holds a Cognate in Music History from CWU and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Musicology from UNCG.
While in WA State, Geoff performed as a substitute member for many of the region's orchestras, including the Mid-Columbia Symphony, Wenatchee Valley Symphony Orchestra, and the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. As a Musicfest NW Collegiate Young Artist winner, they also performed the first movement of Hummel's Trumpet Concerto with the Spokane Symphony. Geoff has also been a soloist with the Inland NW Orchestra on two occasions as a competition winner performing movements from the Haydn and Neruda concerti. During his time in North Carolina, Geoff has performed with the Piedmont Wind Symphony, Orquesta Mayor, and as a collaborative guest artist at the Weatherspoon Art Museum and Greensboro Project Space.
Geoff's research interests are focused on the social connotation (sonic coding) of the trumpet as portrayed in popular film, and their performances often aim to subvert these connotations. Outside of the trumpet, his research interests are in popular/punk/metal music and its relation to political discourse and social movements.
Geoff is an enthusiastic reader of modern literature and is currently working on a novel that incorporates multi-media components as part of the written prose. Geoff uses he/they pronouns.
