The Truncated Story of Joe
Joe Klause started his musical studies on the violin at age four, and by age seven he was playing and performing on the trumpet. By high school, Joe was known as an accomplished performer in his native homeland, South Jersey, and attended the Pre-College Program at the Juilliard School.
Following high school, Joe attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he received his bachelor’s degree in Trumpet Performance. After a year away from school (spent discovering Oregon, as it were), he returned to the Boston area and continued his studies at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. From Longy, he received a master’s in Dalcroze Eurhythmics (a pedagogical study of understanding music through movement) and an Artist Diploma in Chamber Music with the Redline Brass Quintet— of which he is a founding member. Later, he attended class at le Conservatoire du Rueil-Malmaison in France, where he studied solfege (ear training), music theory, and trumpet.
Finished music school, Joe put all of his skills to good use and, with his family, built an ice cream sandwich business. Peace Pie, which started as a farmer’s market stand run by Joe and his father, now has six stores in three states up and down the East Coast. In 2017, feeling satisfied that he scooped enough ice cream for this lifetime, Joe moved to Oregon to follow his passion for music and teaching.
Joe is a member of the celebrated Rose City Brass Quintet and Rose City Brass Trio. He subs regularly with the Oregon Symphony, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Tacoma Symphony, Eugene Symphony, Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Orpheus PDX, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Portland Columbia Symphony, Newport Symphony, and Yakima Symphony. He also performs with the Oregon Bach Festival and Sunriver Music Festival.
Joe conducts private lessons out of his home studio in Oak Grove, OR. He teaches trumpet at Lewis and Clark College, Reed College, and Clackamas Community College. He also coaches trumpet sectionals at several different high schools in the Portland area.
Joe’s principle teachers include David Seals, Kevin Cobb, Ben Wright, Tom Rolfs, Norman Bolter, Steve Emery, Eric Aubier and Douglas Buys. When Joe isn’t playing the trumpet, he enjoys swimming, yoga, hiking, eating, and playing with his cats, Ash and Willow.