Aaron Flagg

Aaron A. Flagg is the Chair and Associate Director of Juilliard Jazz Studies at The Juilliard School. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Juilliard School and earned his Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. He has extensive experience as a performer, educator and non-profit executive. 

A trumpeter, Dr. Flagg’s diverse experience includes concerto, recital, orchestral, chamber, big band and small jazz ensemble performances. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Illinois Jacquet Big Band, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Absolute Ensemble, American Brass Orchestra, and New York Ragtime Orchestra among others. 

As an educator, he worked with K‑12 students and teachers as well as taught courses and master classes at universities. He has been a consultant with arts organizations around the country, while also being a teaching artist for 15 years with organizations including the Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall Education, New York Philharmonic Education, Memphis Arts Council, Guggenheim Museum, and the New York City Opera. He was named a national spokesman for the Music Educators National Conference in Virginia in 1999, received the Rising Star Award for Westchester’s ​“Forty under Forty” in 2008 and was approved by the NY State Senate in 2021 to serve as a member of the New York Council on the Arts. 

Prior to his current role, Dr. Flagg was Professor of Music and Dean of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. At Hartt, he led a revision of the School’s mission, vision and core values; attracted exceptional and diverse teaching artists to join the faculty; reorganized the academic structure; launched the ​“Live from Hartt” streaming series; and upgraded the learning environment with educational technology and building renovations. His tenure has seen a significant increase in campus wide collaborations, guest artist visits, alumni engagement and professional partnerships with the Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Martha Graham Company, Hartford Stage Company and many others. He has helped triple the amount of funds raised through its annual Gala, reversed a 12% enrollment decline, and launched a three million dollar project Fuller@50 to renovate the main music performance venues.

Prior to his appointment at the University of Hartford, he was Executive Director of the Music Conservatory of Westchester, a graduate faculty member and Director of Educational Outreach at The Juilliard School, and Director of the Jazz Studies program at the University of Connecticut. 

Dr. Flagg has written for Symphony Magazine on Diversity in American Orchestras and advocated for greater gender and ethnic diversity in the performing arts. He has served on strategic committees for New York University, Hartford Performs and the Harlem School of the Arts. He also was the New York Metro Area chapter chair for the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. He currently serves as on the governing boards of the League of American Orchestras and the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP). Previous volunteer service includes Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Hospital, the iQuilt Partnership, National Guild of Community Arts Education, membership committee of the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, external evaluator for the National Office for Arts Accreditation (NOAA) and panelist for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, New York State Council on the Arts, Cuyahoga Arts and Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

He is married to collaborative pianist Cristina Stanescu Flagg. Both are the proud parents of a SUNY Purchase College junior.