Praised for his beautiful cornet playing, Bryan has traveled the world as performer, teacher, and soloist. He spent a year living in England, immersed in the culture, and performing with the world famous Brighouse and Rastric Brass Band as well as the Lindley Band. As a result, he shares his love and knowledge of the Brass Band with students and colleagues alike serving as Principal Cornet/Assistant Conductor of the award-winning Atlantic Brass Band and is Musical Director of the Atlantic-Rowan Prep Youth Brass Band.
A founding member of Tromba Mundi, Bryan’s role in the ensemble varies from principal player, to arranger, to straight man. Despite constantly lobbying for more pieces with cornet, he is willing to serve any role within the ensemble. On another note, he is the most anti-social member of the group.
Bryan is Professor of Trumpet and Head of Brass at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey. In that role he teaches studio trumpet, conducts the Trumpet Ensemble and Rowan University Brass Band, performs with the Faculty Brass Sextet, and teaches trumpet class for music education majors. In 2006 he hosted the International Trumpet Guild Conference and in 2017 was the co-host of the International Women’s Brass Conference with his colleagues Prof. Lyndsie Wilson (horn) and Dr. Amy Bliss (euphonium).
He currently serves as Principal Trumpet of the Bay-Atlantic Symphony and has performed with many ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, The Indianapolis Symphony, the Manhattan Chamber Orchestras, The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and The Opera Company of Philadelphia. For four seasons, he served as Principal Trumpet of the Haddonfield Symphony and Brass Quintet.
Bryan holds degrees from The Oberlin Conservatory of Music (B.M in Trumpet and Music Education) where he studied with Anthony Plog, Jean Moorhead Libbs, and Cleveland Orchestra member Charles Couch; The Cleveland Institute of Music (M.M. in Trumpet) where he studied with James Darling of the Cleveland Orchestra, and did additional work with Cleveland Orchestra members Michael Sachs and David Zauder, and was awarded the 1994 Bernard Adelstein Prize in Trumpet; and The Mason Gross School of Music at Rutgers University (D.M.A. in Trumpet) where he studied with Peter Bond of The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Bryan lives in Glassboro, NJ with his wife Sarah (a Midwife and Nurse-Practitioner in Women’s Health). They have two daughters, Hannah and Kathryn.