Jeff Ayres

Jeff Ayres has a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Central Michigan University with a minor in Jazz Studies. He has also completed two years of graduate study in trumpet performance and has served as a graduate assistant at both the University of South Carolina and Bowling Green State University. He recently earned a master’s degree in Advanced Instrumental Conducting from CMU and is currently the trumpet teacher at Alma College.

Mr. Ayres has been teaching at Greenville High School since 1997. Other teaching experience includes five years at Coconut Creek High School in Florida and six years in Newaygo. He is a member of the Flat River Big Band, the Truth in Jazz Orchestra, the Grand Rapids Jazz Orchestra and the Fair Haven Horns of Power.

He has performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Jon Faddis, Maynard Ferguson, Rich Matteson, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Toledo Opera and the Grand Rapids Symphony. Mr. Ayres was also the winner of the 1984 University of South Carolina Concerto Competition, and was the Outstanding Wind Player at the Aquinas College Collegiate Jazz Festival in 1983.

His professional associations include MSBOA (state secretary/treasurer), Phi Mu Alpha, Pi Kappa Lambda, International Association of Jazz Educators and International Trumpet Guild.

In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his wife, two daughters, and his two dogs. He also loves to play golf.