Mr. Krueger currently teaches 5th grade band at Kloefkorn and Maxey Elementary schools, and directs Jazz Ensembles I and II and the Jazz Combo at Lincoln Southeast High School. A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (B.M.E in 1984 and M.M. in 1994), Mr. Krueger studied trumpet with Dennis Schneider, jazz with Rusty White and conducting with Jack Snider and Dr. Robert Fought. He also participated in conducting master classes with Dr. James Croft, Gary Green, and Tim Salzman. While at UN-L he served as trumpet section leader and Drum Major for the Cornhusker Marching Band, and played principal trumpet in the UN-L Wind Ensemble and Brass Ensemble, held the Jazz Trumpet spot in the UN-L Jazz Ensemble I, and played in the Trumpet Ensemble and the Westminster Brass. Before his senior year he spent the summer performing as a member of the Walt Disney World All-American Band, where he worked with young musicians such as Darmon Meader (New York Voices), Frank Greene (Maynard Ferguson, Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Late Night with David Letterman), and others who have achieved renown in the music industry.
Mr. Krueger has been a music teacher in the Lincoln Public Schools since 1985. He was the instrumental music teacher at Southeast High School from 1985-1995, where his ensembles received many awards and were selected to perform at state music conventions four times. In 1988 he received the NSBA Jack Snider Award, and in 1989 he was named the nation’s outstanding young high school band director by the American School Band Directors Association.
Under his leadership the Southeast Jazz Ensemble I has received both regional and national acclaim, including being selected to perform in New York City as one of 20 national finalists in the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Competition. The band has been selected as the outstanding high school ensemble at the University of Kansas Jazz Festival and performed on the finale concert of the festival every year that they have attended the festival. The band has worked with a number of guest artists, including Slide Hampton, Carl Allen, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, Jon Faddis, Willie Thomas, Bob Washut, Dan Gailey, and Stefon Harris. Alumni of the band include Chris Steinke (recipient of the 2000 IAJE Stan Getz/Clifford Brown Fellowship), James Valentine (multiple Grammy award winner with Maroon 5), and Ryland Steen (drummer for Reel Big Fish). A number of alumni are currently working as professional musicians in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other cities around the country.
In addition to his teaching duties with the Lincoln Public Schools, from 2001-2004, Mr. Krueger was the interim Director of Jazz Activities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he directed the UN-L Jazz Ensemble I. He has served as the brass coach (1987-2001), assistant conductor (2001-2002), and from 2004-2007 was the Music Director of the Lincoln Youth Symphony. In 2005 Mr. Krueger took the Lincoln Youth Symphony on a concert tour of Austria, with performances in Vienna, Salzburg, Graz, and Innsbruck.
Mr. Krueger also serves as the Music Director of the Lincoln Municipal Band and performs on trumpet with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra, the Lincoln Municipal Band, the Nebraska Trumpet Ensemble, and his own jazz combo. He has served as a clinician and adjudicator at competitions, festivals, and music camps in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wyoming, and Nebraska.