Mark Flaherty is the Head of the Department of Music at Northern Michigan University, where he teaches trumpet and horn, directs the NMU Jazz Band, and coordinates the annual NMU Jazz Festival. He is also principal trumpet of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, and he is an active freelance player in the Upper Peninsula. He studied at Carleton College and the Yale University School of Music, and he completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Flaherty is a frequent clinician at the middle school and high school level, he has published articles in the International Trumpet Guild Journal, and he has also presented at the Jazz Education Network Conference and the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors Conference.