Richard Illman has been associate professor of trumpet at Michigan State University since 1990.  He has also taught at Eastern Kentucky University, The University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and Asbury College.

Mr. Illman has had a wide variety of playing experiences. Currently he is one of the solo cornets with the Brass Band of Battle Creek and was a featured soloist on their first and third CD's.

Vince DiMartino and Rich are the two trumpets in the Millennium Brass, which has released one CD (click here for details) The Millennium Brass has done concerts and clinics in Greece, Germany, and Italy as well as the United States. 

He is also First Trumpet in the Beaumont Brass Quintet, Principal Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra,  Lead Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Big Band, and First Trumpet with the Lansing Symphony Brass Quintet, performing all around the state of Michigan with those groups.

As Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University, Mr. Illman has been featured soloist with the MSU Alumni Band on their last four European tours. He was principal trumpet of the Lexington KY Philharmonic (LPO) for eighteen years, and first trumpet for the LPO Brass Quintet, which received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to perform in schools around the state of Kentucky. 

Illman is a founding member of the Kentuckiana Brass and Percussion Ensemble and was featured soloist on the first CD recording of that group. Having played lead trumpet in a Lexington Big Band for fourteen years, he has also performed in backup bands for Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Burt Bacharach, Bob Hope, and even rock groups such as the Fifth Dimemsion, Martha and the Vandellas, and the Spinners. He has also played in a long list of musicals (including thirty performances with the Broadway touring company of Beauty and the Beast).

In an effort to keep up with modern technology, Mr. Illman uses synthesizers and other electronic devices both in his studio teaching andon his numerous solo recitals as well as performances at schools with Frank Ell, Professor of Clarinet at MSU, in a program entitled Music and Technology. He has also formed a MIDI ensemble which presents multi-media concerts in planetariums. He has also performed his own electronic music compositions at International Trumpet Guild Conferences and at several universities  around the country and presented a programs at the 2002 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Manchester, England and the 2003 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Denver, Colorado entitled Yoga for Trumpet Players.