Mr. Jupp Bio

2010 Masters Degree, Music Education from Northwestern University (emphasis in jazz and conducting)

Music has always been a major part of my life ever since I started playing the piano in kindergarten. My dad (a vocalist and pianist) was my first piano teacher and my mother (a vocalist) brought music into our home regularly. I joined band in fifth grade and started playing trombone. Music teaching was an obvious career choice for me and I graduated from Wheaton College in 2005 with a degree in Music Education. After my first year of teaching I entered the summer masters degree program at Northwestern University and graduated in 2010.

My teaching career began as the very first band director of a new charter school in Chicago called Rauner College Prep. This school is part of the highly acclaimed Noble Network of Charter Schools. The Noble Network was named the 15th most transformative high school in the country by Newsweek magazine and I was able to be part of building students of character for the four years I taught there. It was very fulfilling to be part of a culture that connected learning and character development which in my mind cannot be separated.

At Rauner College Prep I was given the task of forming a band program with high school students who had no prior experience playing an instrument. In the fourth year of the school's existence and with the school's first senior class the band scored a superior rating at Chicago's All City Band Festival. When I was promoted to band department chair it allowed me to help oversee 300 music students and six ensembles.

After four years of teaching in Chicago my wife and I decided to move closer to her family in the Milwaukee area. She grew up in Wauwatosa and then Elm Grove. The past dozen years her parents have lived in Lake Country so I know the area fairly well. My Wisconsin teaching career began at Brown Deer High School. That position included leading two jazz bands, two concert bands, handbell choir, marching band, pep band, pit orchestra, beginning piano, general music, and adaptive music. My passion for character development was able to be utilized by helping form the Brown Deer Way committee which is a team of teachers, students, and parents. Our goal was to develop a positive school culture where trust and respect is built in the school community.

As band director I have taken groups to perform at some of the most well known local and national venues including the Milwaukee Bucks and Admirals, Milwaukee Holiday Parade, and Summerfest. I have also led successful trips to Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Walt Disney World.

I have worked with some of the most distinguished conductors in the country including Dr. Mallory Thompson from Northwestern University, Dr. Daniel Sommerville from Wheaton College, and Craig Kirchhoff from the University of Minnesota.

One of my biggest interests is in the area of jazz. I was the lead trombone player in the Wheaton College Jazz Ensemble for three years, played with the McHenry City Jazz Band one season, and the Northwestern University Summer Jazz Band for four summers. In addition, I founded Rauner College Prep’s jazz program which quickly became the top performing group in the school.