Dick Hammergren

Jazz trumpeter Dick Hammergren has taught at Winona State University since 2000. Along with teaching, he has over fifty years of experience in the music business and has appeared with a great number of entertainment luminaries while serving as music director and lead trumpet player for the Emmy-winning Dinah Shore Show. Dick spent a large portion of his career in Los Angeles, where he maintained a busy schedule playing regularly on TV specials and movies such as Out of Africa, The Sting, True Lies, and An American Tale, among many others. Hammergren also played lead trumpet with the Grammy-winning Si Zentner Orchestra, and in 1962 was voted best lead trumpet on a national big band recording. He attended Winona State University for two years and went on to receive his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Music from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities campus. Hammergren teaches courses in jazz history and improvisation. He stands as a proven reminder of all that the music business has to offer, because he has lived most of it.