Dr. Cameron “Chip” Crotts serves as Professor of Practice at Georgia Tech, where he is the Director of the Jazz Studies Program and Assistant Director of Athletic Bands. Previously, Dr. Crotts held tenured positions at Samford University, Jacksonville State University and as an Assistant Instructor at The University of Texas at Austin.

A multi-dimensional trumpet artist, Chip’s career has spanned nearly four decades as a professional musician. A Grammy nominated performer, he has toured and worked with a myriad of artists over the years, including Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, Joan Rivers, Frankie Valli, The O’Jays. Manhattan Transfer, Bernadette Peters, Arturo Sandoval, Don Rickles, Diana Krall, Matt Catingub, The Pussycat Dolls, Rick Ross, Boston Brass, T.I., Jennifer Holiday, CeeLo Green, and Maynard Ferguson.

Dr. Crotts has also been active in the recording field, having done commercial work internationally for companies such as The Disney Company, Carl Fischer, Hal Leonard and video soundtracks such as Destiny 2, Halo and Legend of Zelda series. Chip can be heard on numerous labels including SeaBreeze Jazz, Cafe290 Records, Sanachie Records and Mark Records, as well as on a variety of live tv, broadcast recordings and national Broadway tours.

As a jazz educator and musician, Dr. Crotts has been directing university and professional jazz groups for 30 years and has directed All-State Jazz Ensembles In North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Alabama and Texas, along with numerous region and district honor groups nationally. Currently, Chip plays regularly with a variety of professional jazz and commercial groups, including the Joe Gransden Big Band, South Carolina Jazz Masterworks Big Band, Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra, Georgia Symphony Orchestra Big Band, Macon Pops Big Band and the Atlanta Pops Orchestra. He has served as a past Vice-President of the Georgia Association of Jazz Educators. As a lead trumpeter and soloist, Chip has been featured in venues worldwide such as Birdland, Blues Alley, Les Duc des Lombards (Paris) The Blue Note NY, Lincoln Center, The Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall.

Dr. Crotts remains true to his roots in the marching activity and is highly active as an adjudicator and educator. As an adjudicator, he serves for organizations such as Bands of America, Drum Corps International, Texas University Interscholastic League, Drum Corps Japan, Taiwan Marching Academy, Music for All and Winter Guard International.

As an educator, Chip has been involved for over 30 years in the pageantry activity and is currently the Brass Caption Head for the 21-time DCI World Champion Blue Devils from Concord, CA. Dr. Crotts has won world championships with 3 different organizations and hornlines under his instruction have received the “Jim Ott Award for Best Brass Performance” multiple times during his career.

As a clinician, Chip serves nationwide for jazz and concert band festivals, and his clinical presentations have been presented at conferences such as the International Trumpet Guild, New York Brass Conference, Jazz Education Network, International Association of Jazz Educators, Conn Selmer Institute, USBands Summer Symposium and The Midwest Clinic. Currently, Dr. Crotts and Dr. Mike Huff are presenting and touring their Clinic “Overcoming Adversity Through Positivity – A Bells Palsy Journey”.

In terms of professional service, Chip is a member of NAfME, the American Federation of Musicians, the Jazz Education Network and The International Trumpet Guild. He is a past fellowship recipient from the Aspen Music Festival, as well as Music at the Banff Centre (Canada) for Classical and Commercial Trumpet Performance. Dr. Crotts has received funding and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, National Institute of Health and the Georgia Tech Foundation.

Dr. Crotts received his undergraduate degree in Music Business from East Carolina University, a Master of Music in Orchestral Performance from Penn State University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trumpet Performance with a Jazz Emphasis from the University of Texas at Austin. His primary teachers have included Ray Sasaki, Ray Crisara, John Daniel and Tom Huener, including additional studies with Boyde Hood, Roger Ingram, Marvin Stamm and Doc Severinsen.

Chip is a Conn-Selmer Educational Clinician, King Brass Instrument Designer and Bach Trumpet Performing Artist.