Trumpeter heads to Manhattan

Oakland University trumpet student Carlos Perez-Hijar has committed to the Manhattan School of Music for graduate study in New York. (oaklandpostonline.com) Perez-Hijar told The Oakland Post he will pursue a Master of Music in classical trumpet and study with David Krauss, principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a faculty member at Manhattan School of Music. (oaklandpostonline.com) (msmnyc.edu) The move sends a suburban Detroit brass player from Rochester-based Oakland University to a Manhattan conservatory that says it presents more than 600 live concerts a year and draws faculty from major New York ensembles. (oakland.edu) (msmnyc.edu 1) (msmnyc.edu 2) Perez-Hijar’s path started in fifth grade, when he joined band after initially wanting percussion and switching to trumpet, according to The Oakland Post. He grew up in Lake Orion and spent four years in Oakland University’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance. (oaklandpostonline.com) (oakland.edu) His undergraduate years included visible performance credits on campus. Oakland University’s events calendar lists his senior recital this spring, and The Oakland Post reported in March that he was part of the Aurum Brass Quintet after the group won the university’s 2026 chamber music competition and qualified for an international competition in Rochester, New York. (oakland.edu) (oaklandpostonline.com) The Oakland Post also reported that Perez-Hijar was among the winners of Oakland University’s 29th Annual David Wilder Daniels Young Artists Concert, performing with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra on Feb. 15. (oaklandpostonline.com) Graduate brass study at Manhattan School of Music is tied to orchestral training as well as private lessons. The school’s Orchestral Performance program says students take part in mock auditions modeled on real orchestra hiring rounds and judged by faculty and musicians from major New York ensembles. (msmnyc.edu) Krauss brings that professional pipeline into the studio. Manhattan School of Music says he joined the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in 2001 and has also appeared as guest principal trumpet with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. (msmnyc.edu) Oakland University has highlighted Perez-Hijar before as a standout trumpet student. In a 2024 alumni magazine profile, visiting assistant professor Amanda Ross said his audition video became a reference point for other players preparing their own submissions. (oakland.edu) Perez-Hijar’s next stop is a conservatory studio in Manhattan, but the story starts earlier, with a fifth-grade band choice that now leads to graduate training under one of New York’s best-known orchestral trumpeters. (oaklandpostonline.com) (msmnyc.edu)