William F. Artope Jr. As a child prodigy, William began his career at 16 playing with the late Stanley Turrentine in Chicago at a street festival; he was later invited to play at Stanley’s funeral. Artope honed his trumpet style under Chicago jazz greats: Frank Portolese, Bruce Daugherty, Bobby Lewis, and Orbert Davis. At 17, he had the honor of playing in concert with jazz greats Wayne Shorter, Nestor Torres, Onaje Allan Gumbs, and Buster Williams. Shortly after, he was accepted into the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, where he was honored with several prestigious accolades.

Education: University of Southern California (’05) B.S. in Music Performance/Music Industry

Professional Accomplishments: Artope is a versatile and energetic musician, having shared the stage and recorded with numerous popular artists. He was a member of the Kids Cotton Club, created by Danny Masterson. Other performances with: John Mayer, toured with Teena Marie for 5 years, Stevie Wonder, accompanied Mariah Carey at the 2006 Grammy’s, Ludacris on the Jay Leno Show, India Arie, Nine Inch Nails, Mos Def, Rick Ross, Lloyd, Snoop Dogg, Sinbad & The Stank Nasty Band, Macy Gray, Blu Cantrell, Richard Wright, Roy Hargrove, Earth Wind & Fire, Capital Cities, Prince, Sebastian Bach, Eric Benet, Lupe Fiasco, Dakah Hip Hop Orchestra, and as a regular Guest with NBC’s Late Night with Carson Daly house-band. William has also performed on American Idol and The Voice, as well as various other TV shows.

William is now pursuing his recording career and launching his first regular group to perform here in the US and Internationally. His style of music is Jazz (Traditional & Classic, Contemporary, Blues, Funk, and Big Band) as well as Pop, R&B, Latin, and Hip Hop