FOSTORIA -What do you get when you cross a trumpet soloist and astrophysics? You get Kyle Kremer.
Kremer, 22, of Kettering, visited St. Wendelin Catholic High School Thursday to speak to the STEMM classes and band students as part of a series of speakers who discuss topics from science, math, performance, visual and language arts, to prepare them for college.
STEMM classes include the study of science, technology, engineering, machine and medicine.
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PHOTO BY NICOLE WALBY
Trumpet player Kyle Kremer performs with band students at St. Wendelin Catholic School Thursday.
Kremer attended Northwestern University in Chicago, graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's in music and a bachelor's in physics.
"At a young age, I enjoyed both music and science and didn't want to decide on just one," Kremer said.
While attending Kettering Fairmont High School, Kremer performed as principal trumpet for the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra for three seasons.
He was a finalist in several concerto competitions and professional orchestra auditions.
"Professional auditions probably have been the hardest thing in my life," Kremer said, talking to students about his experiences in music and science.
"Auditions, for me, are more difficult than theoretical research," Kremer said.
He played a few pieces for St. Wendelin band students and presented a workshop discussing musicianship, music as a profession and how not to let music go.
"Music is a wonderful hobby," Kremer said. "I encourage students not to abandon music."
Kremer will be joining the Lima Symphony Orchestra for a virtuoso showpiece of Alexander Arutunian's "Trumpet Concerto" Saturday in Lima.
International students from St. Wendelin Catholic School and their host families, along with St. Wendelin music students, will be attending the production "Brahms and Bicentennial," of which the trumpet concerto is part
While in high school, Kremer and three other students published an article on the physics of baseball pitches in the "Ohio Journal for School Mathematics."
Kremer was part of the theoretical astrophysics group at Northwestern. His thesis on supernova explosions earned him graduation with honors in physics.
He also participated in fellowships at NASA and Princeton University. His work at NASA was published in "The Astrophysical Journal" and he has presented the work at several professional conferences across the United States.
"My research in science opened up a lot of opportunities for me," Kremer said.
"If students take just a small amount of initiative and develop relationships with their professors, they can learn and continue to contribute to the field," he said.
Currently, Kremer holds a graduate research fellowship at the University of Cambridge in England. There, he is pursuing a one-year master's degree in astrophysics.
"It is great to spend a year in Europe," Kremer said.
When he returns home, Kremer hopes to find a trumpet position in a major symphony orchestra.
"I'd also like to go back to school one day and earn a Ph.D. or a couple," Kremer said.
"School is more fun than a job, it allows for more flexibility and range to learn," he said.
