Rich Tirk is a doctoral candidate in trumpet performance at Michigan State University. His degrees include a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from Western Michigan University. Presently Rich is the principal trumpet of the Saginaw Bay Symphony and is a substitute musician with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Graduate Assistant of Trumpet at Michigan State University.