Performer, composer, and arranger Greg Hopkins first picked up the trumpet as a boy in Detroit, and to this day it would be hard to spot him without his horn. Hopkins plays even when caught in traffic on commute to Berklee College of Music, where he’s been teaching since 1974 - the year the London Times called him “a real find” for the Buddy Rich Orchestra.

That symbiosis of man and musical instrument is evident in Hopkins’ solo performances by which he has served the orchestras of Louis Bellson, Billy Maxted, Buddy Rich, and Herb Pomeroy, as well as his own small ensembles and big bands. Hopkins began his professional career in 1965, freelancing in the Detroit area for such acts as the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight until 1969, when he graduated Michigan State.

From 1969 to 1974 he toured nationally and internationally, appearing at the Newport, Monterey, and other major jazz festivals. Hopkins has also performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Stevie Wonder, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, the Supremes, Burt Bacharach, Nancy Wilson, Lou Rawls, Mitzi Gaynor, Michel Legrand, Johnny Mathis, Shirley MacLaine, Marvin Hamlisch, and Lena Home, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, and the Boston Brass Ensemble.

He recorded as soloist and arranger the Roar of ‘74 and Stick It with the Buddy Rich Orchestra, Afrodisia with Lonnie Smith, Pramlatta’s Hips with Herb Pomeroy (Shiah), Together with Maggie Scott (MM and R), Orange Then Blue with George Adams (GM Recordings), Jumpin’ in the Future with Gunther Schuller (GM), Dreams Come True with Suzanne Dean (NOVA), and numerous others.

His theater work includes 42nd Street, Dancin’, Some Like It Hot, Annie, Tommy Tune Tonight, Catskills on Broadway, West Side Story, Porgy and Bess, My Fair Lady (Rex Harrison), The King and I (with Yul Brynner), Into the Woods, Ragtime, and A Chorus Line.

His own 16-Piece Jazz Orchestra CD, Okavongo, is out on the Summit label, as is his quintet CD, Quintology, featuring Bill Pierce, Mick Goodrick, and Gary Chaffee. He has also released a trio recording with Tim Ray’s chamber jazz group Tre Corda, featuring Tim on piano, and Eugene Friesen on cello. Hopkins is also featured on the Grammy® winning jazz album by composer Joel Pallson and his Septet, on the Icelandic label. Most recently he was trumpet soloist with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra on Arthur Welwoods composition for jazz trumpet and orchestra, on Albany Records Wind, Sky, and Clouds.