Joe Wilder
Jazz Trumpet Faculty

Born in Colwyn, Pa., Joe Wilder grew up in Philadelphia and earned his B.A. at the Manhattan School of Music as a trumpet major, where he studied with Joseph Alessi Sr. and William Vacchiano. A veteran of big bands and pit orchestras (he was the first African-American trumpeter in a principal chair on Broadway, for Cole Porter's Silk Stockings), Wilder now appears annually with his own quartet at the Village Vanguard. He has been on the Juilliard faculty since 2004.

Joe Wilder, c. 1999 (Self-portrait photo by Joe Wilder )

When did you first know that you wanted to be a musician, and how did you come to know it?

Across the street from my paternal grandparents on Saybrook Avenue, there was a Catholic school that had a marching band and I was fascinated by the trombone players sliding their slides in and out. But I hadn't decided to study music yet. Then, when I was about 11 years old, my dad brought home a cornet he'd bought in a hock shop. He decided that I should learn how to play it, so he brought me to his teacher, Fredrick D. Griffin, who really got me started.

Who was the teacher or mentor who most inspired you growing up, and what did you learn from that person?

Mrs. Alberta Schenbecker-Lewis, who was the music teacher at Tillman Junior High School in Philadelphia. She added me to the school orchestra, in which I played with another trumpet player, Rosario Pino. She put together a very fine orchestra and we learned a great deal about how to interpret classical music and how to be friends. In fact, Rosario and I were friends right up until the year before last, when he passed away. At the time, I had a Holton cornet my dad had gotten me from a pawn shop and Rosario had a brand-new Blessing cornet, but I was playing first chair and he insisted that I play with his cornet because it was better. That was how our friendship began.

What was the first recording that you remember hearing or buying and what was its significance to you?

One of the first recordings I probably heard was of Duke Ellington and Jimmy Lunceford, because my father was a big fan, so that's what we heard around the house.

What's the most embarrassing moment you've had as a performer?

I was playing with the Gotham Brass Quintet doing Concerts for Young Audiences in schools all over town, and we played a John Philip Sousa march to demonstrate various types of music. The march included a bugle call, which Andrew "Bunny" Barron and I used to alternate on. But this one time, we forgot whose turn it was and when Bill Stanley said the bugle call goes like this … we both picked up our trumpets and then we both put them down again, thinking it was the other's turn. Well, we did this about three times before we both just ended up playing it together. Afterwards we could hardly play at all, we were laughing so hard.

If you could have your students visit any place in the world, where would that be?

Maybe Europe or Scandinavia—Sweden, in particular.

What are your non-music-related hobbies?

That would be photography. And I like animals of all stripes.

If your students could only remember one thing about your teaching, what would you want that to be?

I would want them to learn from the people they're playing with, rather than feeling envious of someone who might play better. A musical group always sounds better if they get along well. And if you pay attention to what others are doing better than you, you can actually learn and improve by listening to them, and that tends to help the overall playing of the band or orchestra.

What is your favorite thing about New York City?

The cultural aspects are almost boundless. It's probably one of the most interesting places in the world, due to the variety of things you have access to and the mixture of ethnic groups. It's a great place to live.

What book are you reading right now?

I'm reading selected short stories from Reader's Digest. I'm in the middle of Hornet's Flight by Ken Follett, about the occupation of Denmark during World War II by Germany.

If you weren't in the career you're in, what would you be doing?

I'd be an Episcopal priest.