Richard Tirk

Assistant Professor of Music Richard Tirk grew up in rural Illinois in a musical family. He completed a Music Education degree at the Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1996 and spent one year as an intern in the Appleton School District as part of the Wisconsin Improvement Program. His desire to pursue a degree in trumpet led him to Kalamazoo, Michigan where he was a trumpet graduate assistant at Western Michigan University and completed a Masters degree in Trumpet Performance. While in Kalamazoo, Dr. Tirk continued his work in music education as the director of bands at the Gagie School. In 1999, Richard began his doctoral studies with Richard Illman at Michigan State University serving as the graduate teaching assistant and performing with the Beaumont Brass Quintet. 

An active performer, Dr. Tirk currently is principal trumpet of the Wichita Grand Opera. In Michigan, he held positions of principal trumpet with both the Saginaw Bay and Midland Symphony Orchestras where he performed with such artists as Doc Severson, Dave Brubeck, and the Juilliard String Quartet. As a soloist, Dr. Tirk has performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with the Midland Symphony Orchestra, and with the concert band and philharmonic orchestra of Michigan State University, as well as performed recitals in Scotland, England, and across the Midwest. An active clinician, Dr. Tirk has presented masterclasses at several universities and colleges in the U.S. as well as at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland. Before Luther, Dr. Tirk was on faculty at Bethel College, Independence Community College, and the University of Michigan-Flint.