Rick Hajduk

RICK HAJDUK has had a multi-decade career as a performing musician, arranger, private instructor/ tutor, and audio recording/ F.O.H. sound engineer. Beginning at the age of seven learning to play woodwind instruments, Rick found his passion when he added the trumpet to his musical training. Since that time, his life has been interconnected with a deep commitment to music. Rick’s professional performances include Big Bands: beginning with The Woody Herman Band and continuing through the years with notable others among those being The Tommy Wills Orchestra, Eddie Howard, and The Indianapolis Jazz Orchestra. Notable performance events include the Super Bowl, Kentucky Derby Governor’s Ball, the Indianapolis Jazz Festival, The Jazz Kitchen, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In addition, Rick had the staff lead trumpet position at Beef and Boards Theater in Indianapolis , while at the same time, running his own group, The Funk Quarter, which was a jazz funk improvisational collective of premier Indianapolis sidemen. He was an arranger and trumpet player for Latin groups Orquesta Bravo and Grupo Tumbao, which performed educational concerts along with the Summer Music Festival at Fountain Square in Cincinnati, Ohio. As an instructor, Rick tutored trumpet students in the Zionsville, Indiana schools for eleven years working with students from fifth through twelfth grade, along with many individual private students. He earned his Master of Arts in Music Degree at Ball State University and A Bachelor Degree in Music Education from Berklee College of Music. Rick studied with well renowned instructors including: William Adam and Dominic Spera (Indiana University), Marvin Perry (Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra), Paul Everett (Muncie Indiana Symphony), Larry MacWilliams (Jazz Studies at Ball State University), John Coffey (Boston Symphony) and Ray Kotwica (Trumpet with Schubert Theater, Boston) Upon relocating to Ocala, Rick is continuing his pursuit of bringing music and trumpet playing to students of all ages so that they, too, are able to pursue their own passions for music in their lives.