DeRoule, John (1930-2011) | University of Illinois Archives

Name: DeRoule, John (1930-2011)

Historical Note: John DeRoule was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. His parents were John and Mary DeRoule, and his brothers were George and Frank DeRoule. In 1951 John DeRoule was accepted as a trumpet player in the 542 Air Force Band, and in 1953 he enrolled in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a music student and earned both his Bachelor and Master degrees in music. He earned his Doctorate of Music Education and Composition from Northwestern University while he was an Associate Professor of Music at Wilbur Wright College. During his tenure with the US Air Force Band and later the Air National Guard Band of Illinois, he served as one of only five jazz arrangers for the Air Force jazz ensembles. He also played first trumpet in both the Stan Kenton and Tommy Dorsey Bands prior to becoming a faculty member at Wright College. While on the music faculty of Chicago's Wright College, DeRoule established the Jazz Education in the City Colleges of Chicago program during the 1960s to improve jazz education curriculums across the country. He continued teaching both jazz composition and arrangement at Wright College for forty years before retiring.