Dr. Eddie Ludema
Associate Professor of Music | Trumpet | Music Theory
Office: FA 318
- B.Mus. University of Utah
- K.A. Freiburg Hochschule für Musik
- M.M. Indiana University
- D.M. Indiana University
Eddie Ludema is a trumpet player, composer, livecoder, and lifelong audio tinkerer who serves as professor of trumpet, theory, and tech at Idaho State University. Equally at home with Bach, bebop, and bitcrushers, he collaborates with colleagues and students on everything from traditional brass rep to fully immersive audiovisual chaos. Alongside ISU's Jon Armstrong, he co-founded ISU’s Video Game Music and Audio-Visual Electronic Ensemble, a playground for sonic-altering creativity.
Eddie has performed at festivals like Electronic Music Midwest (EMM), NYCEMF, SEAMUS, MOXsonic, TURN UP for Equality, and the International Trumpet Guild. He performs regularly with the Idaho State-Civic and Idaho Falls Symphonies and has played with ensembles ranging from the Utah Symphony to ORSO Rock Orchestra (Germany) and the IU New Music Ensemble. Before joining ISU in 2019, he taught and played in Indiana, serving as trumpet instructor and jazz director at Indiana State University, and principal trumpet with the Columbus Philharmonic and Terre Haute Symphony. He was a founding member of the Mirari Brass Quintet, toured internationally with the ISU Ambassador Brass, and currently produces Anthony Plog on Music, a podcast featuring wide-ranging conversations with top-tier artists.
Eddie holds degrees from Indiana University (MM and DM with John Rommel), the Freiburg Hochschule für Musik (KA with Anthony Plog), and the University of Utah (BM with Nick Norton), and has also studied with Joey Tartell and other remarkable mentors throughout the U.S. and Europe. At heart, he’s always been drawn to the beauty of creativity—whether harmonic, theoretical, or digital. That curiosity led him to coding back in his 8-bit Atari days and eventually to a career in a previous life as a software developer—meaning he’s now fluent in both Lua and lip slurs. With his coding chops, he co-created Dr. Drone (with Jason Sulliman), a popular practice tool, and the Set Class Calculator, built for theory heads and sonic explorers alike.
Teaching and learning are Eddie’s true passions—especially learning from the wonderful people he’s met around the world, many of whom he cherishes as lifelong friends. A proud son of a Groninger, he’s lived in the Yucatán and Freiburg, which means he’s on a lifelong quest for the perfect kroket, the boldest chorizo, and the cheesiest Käsespätzle. He shares life with his extraordinary wife, Beth (a vocalist, oboist, and music educator), and their sweet, silly miracle kids: Hendrik (the first to pocket $10 for beating his dad at Mario Kart) and Mira (whose first Christmas book was Quantum Physics for Babies—and who seems intent on defying the subject matter).