Dr. Gilbert Cline, Professor of Music, is Humboldt's teacher of Studio Trumpet and Studio Horn. Among performance ensembles at Humboldt he organizes and leads the Brass Ensembles, using both modern and historic brass. Groups range from quartets through 8-part Venetian-era groups up to a full British-style brass band, and culminate each year with the Commencement Brass Choir.

The brass ensembles have recorded three full length audio CDs and have been reviewed and noted in publications of the International Trumpet Guild and the Historic Brass Society. A recent project has been Humboldt Bay Brass Band, a full 27-piece ensemble, which recorded "Pageantry of Brass" in 2005 and was the feature of the January 6th 2008 Brasscast podcast, and participated inthe 2011 "Northwest Brass Band Festival" in Bellevue, Washington.  An ongoing group is Trumpet Consort von Humboldt, which performs on baroque, natural trumpets of copper and silver. This group has played tower music with the carillon at UC Berkeley and at Stanford.  A previous project ensemble was Brass Consort von Humboldt (baroque trumpets, cornetti, sackbuts, serpent, and drums) which explored music for the old brasswinds of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. BCvH appeared at the 1998 state CMEA conference, the 1999 Historic Brass Society national meeting, in 2000 in Ashland, Oregon, in 2001 at the Palace of Legion of Honor, and in 2002 at Grace Cathedral. Appearing on community concerts and touring to California schools and even Franciscan missions, BCvH in 2003 recorded a full length audio CD "Tour de Brass." 

Returning to roots of the trumpet, Dr. Cline has focused his energies on baroque trumpet (the long, eight-foot trumpet having no valves!), performing often as a soloist -- with Seattle Baroque, the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists (S.F. Bay Area), Portland Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Consort (Portland), the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra (Ashland), Musica Angelica Baroque (Los Angeles), and Magnificat Baroque Orchestra (San Francisco). Other solo credits on baroque trumpet include the International Brassfest, the Oregon Coast Festival, and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival. He has received reviews and notices in the major newspapers of Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, and Sacramento and is listed in the 2nd edition of "The Trumpet" by Edward Tarr.

Beyond performing and teaching, Dr. Cline has researched old trumpets and brasswinds in museums in the U.S. and England, continues research on Humboldt County music history, and composes new works. "Corniche" has been featured in 2002 in England at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, and in 2003 in the U.S. at the National Trumpet Competition and the International Women's Brass Conference. He composes and arranges many works for BCvH, TCvH, HBBB, and the Commencement Brass Choir. Looking to the new, he has written thirty original works for his own mid-sized jazz ensemble "The Midnight Jazz-tet."

Dr. Cline earned the BA in music from Cal Poly Humboldt, the MA from Cal State Hayward, and the doctorate (DMA in trumpet performance) from the University of Oregon, Eugene. First teaching at Humboldt in 1977, he then taught music at Clear Lake High School and at Castro Valley High School, returning full-time to Humboldt in 1982. Beyond his current teaching assignments, he previously directed Humboldt jazz big bands and jazz combos, made highly rated appearances at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festivals and the Reno Jazz Festival, and in 1985 recorded the LP album "P.M. Jazz."  He was conductor of the Humboldt concert and symphonic bands, and has served as a clinician and a guest conductor of honor bands. In addition to clinics and tours presented in scores of local and regional schools, his students at Humboldt hosted educational and concert appearances at Humboldt by groups and artists ranging from Allen Vizzutti to The Whole Noyse, and appeared on-stage with artists ranging from Louie Bellson to Gerald Wilson. On modern valved trumpet he performed with the Oakland Symphony and other orchestras in the San Francisco bay area, with the Oregon Bach Festival and the Eugene Symphony, and in small ensembles such as the Oregon Brass Quintet and Oakland Symphony Brass Quartet.  His bio is to appear in "Trumpet Greats" -- a biographical dictionary on about 2,000 famous trumpeters since the Baroque.