Midwest Trumpet Festival

2018 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artist

Wayne Bergeron

Wayne Bergeron is enjoying a career as one of the most sought-after musicians in the world. Studio sessions, film dates, international touring, jazz concerts, guest appearances, and clinics keep him busy not only in his hometown of Los Angeles, but worldwide.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1958, Bergeron came to Los Angeles at age one, so considers himself a native Californian. Originally starting on French horn, he switched to trumpet in seventh grade and found he had natural upper register ability. Bergeron credits his junior high and high school teachers, Ron Savitt and Bob Smith, for molding his talent into practical working skills.

Bergeron first caught the ear of many when he landed the lead trumpet chair with Maynard Ferguson’s band in 1986. Bergeron can be heard on Maynard’s recordings of “Body and Soul,” “Big Bop Nouveau,” “Brass Attitude,” and “The One and Only Maynard Ferguson.”  Bergeron demonstrates daily why Maynard remarked, “Wayne is the most musical lead trumpet player I’ve had on my band.”

As a sideman, Bergeron’s list of recording credits reads like a who’s who in contemporary jazz and pop, running the stylistic gamut from Ray Charles to Green Day. Other names include Beyoncé, Barbra Streisand, Michael Buble, The Dirty Loops, Seth MacFarlane, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Seal, Diana Krall, Tito Puente, Christina Aguilera, Dianne Reeves, Michael Bolton, Earth Wind & Fire, The Pussy Cat Dolls, My Chemical Romance, The Mars Volta, INXS, Chicago, Rosemary Cloony, Diane Schuur, Barry Manilow, Lee Ann Womack, Lou Rawls, Eric Marienthal, Kenny G., and David Benoit.

Bergeron has worked on over 400 TV & motion picture soundtracks. A partial list of film credits include Moana, Frozen, Bridge of Spies, Get On Up, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Planes, Despicable Me 1 & 2, Cars 2, Charlie St. Cloud, High School Musical 3, Pink Panther 2, Marley & Me, Get Smart, Superman Returns, The Simpson’s Movie, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Mission Impossible 3, Ice Age 2, Spiderman 1 & 2, Team America, Catch Me if You Can, and South Park.

Bergeron’s featured trumpet solos can be heard on the motion pictures La La Land, Rough Night, Ted 2, Minions, Jersey Boys, The Incredibles, Rocky Balboa, The Green Hornet, The Interview, Smurfs 2, Despicable Me 2, Duplicity, Leather Heads, Princess & the Frog, The Perfect Game, High Crimes, Rounders, Fled, Hey Arnold (the movie), The Life Aquatic, The Rat Pack, Child Star, Illegal Tender, Aladdin King of Thieves, Foolproof, and Two Days in the Valley.

Numerous TV credits include Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, SAG Awards, NBC, ESPN & TNT sports themes, Entertainment Tonight Theme, American Idol (2001-02), Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Latin Grammy’s, Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Jeopardy, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Phineas & Ferb, Emperor’s New School, Mouse Works, Have a Laugh, House of Mouse, King of the Hill, Futurama, Buzz Lightyear, Hercules, Disney Mickey Mouse Shorts, and Hey Arnold.

Bergeron’s passion for big bands has led to his inclusion in some of Los Angeles’ most well-respected bands. He has recorded and played with Quincy Jones, Gordon Goodwin, Arturo Sandoval, Pat Williams, Sammy Nestico, Jack Sheldon, Chris Walden, Tom Kubis, John La Barbara, Bob Florence, Ray Anthony, Bill Watrous, Bob Curnow, and more recently Vince Mendoza’s re-creation of the Gil Evans/Miles Davis recordings featuring Terance Blanchard and Sean Jones.

After being behind the scene for so many years, Bergeron stepped out on his own with his first solo effort, “You Call This a Living?”  This debut project earned him a Grammy nomination in 2004 for Best Large Jazz Ensemble, as well as rave reviews from fans and press worldwide. Bergeron’s second CD, “Plays Well With Others,” released on the Concord Jazz label in 2007, was met with the same acclaim. Bergeron is excited about his latest release, Full Circle, Full Circle was released in January of 2016. Bergeron feels this is his best work to date.

Bergeron has been principal trumpet at the Pantages Theatre for over 15 years and is regularly featured with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He has done guest appearances with the L.A. Philharmonic, The New York Philharmonic, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Bergeron is a National Artist for the Yamaha Corporation of America and is co-designer of the YTR-8335LA trumpet and YFH-8315G Flugelhorn. Bergeron also designed a series of trumpet mouthpieces with Gary Radtke of GR Technologies that are available through Bergeron’s website.

Bergeron was mentored by legends like Uan Racey, Bobby Shew, Warren Luening, Gary Grant, Rick Baptist, and George Graham. He hopes to inspire a new generation of young players and enjoys his work as a clinician and educator. “Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than hearing a young musician say that I inspired them or had a positive influence on their life. For me, that’s the real payday.” Bergeron is currently on faculty at California State University Northridge.

Maybe Grammy winning composer and bandleader, Gordon Goodwin said it best, “Wayne is a once in a lifetime lead trumpet player.”

Featured Guest Artist

Julian Kaplan (Monday only)

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Julian Kaplan and his family moved to North Carolina, where he began playing trumpet at age 12. He soon began studying with the principal trumpet of the Charlotte Symphony, Michael Miller, who now plays in the Cleveland Orchestra. Kaplan received a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Kentucky, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance and studied with Mark Clodfelter. He also was a student of Vince DiMartino at Centre College.

While at the University of Kentucky, Kaplan played at several large venues, including the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and performed concerts in Greece and China. Shortly before graduation, Kaplan was appointed principal trumpet of the Lexington Philharmonic, where he played for two seasons, before being appointed second trumpet of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. After two seasons as second trumpet, Kaplan was appointed principal trumpet of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in 2013.

Kaplan has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and Asheville Symphony Orchestra, among others, and he often performs as a featured soloist with several chamber music groups. Kaplan also is a recording artist, spending time in Nashville recording for various albums. Kaplan has served on the faculty at the University of North Florida for the last two years.

During his time off, he also enjoys golf, racquetball and tennis.

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.
Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Iskander Akhmadullin's website 

Natalia Bolshakova

Dr. Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas.  She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition.  Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe.

Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively working with vocalists and instrumentalists. As a soloist and a collaborative chamber musician she has appeared in England, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, and in many states of the USA.The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.

She has been on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri since 2004.

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest. His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet.  Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others.  Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble.

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants. Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players.  As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings. These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes. Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

David Cooper's website 

Eric Dickson

Eric Dickson serves on the faculty at Truman State University, where he teaches trumpet, directs the Truman Trumpet Ensemble and Truman Brass Choir, and coordinates a student brass quintet program. Prior to his appointment at Truman, he was a member of the Richmond (IN) Symphony Orchestra, the Lafayette (IN) Symphony Orchestra, and an active freelance musician and educator in Indianapolis, IN. He has performed internationally on Broadway tours of The Drowsy Chaperone and A Chorus Line, and as principal trumpet of the Hollywood Concert Orchestra. 

During the summer, Dr. Dickson teaches at the Indiana University Summer Music Clinic and College Audition Preparation Workshop, and at Michigan’s Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He has presented master classes and clinics to students around the country, including appearances at Auburn University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Dickson is also a contributor to the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild, having written articles on life as a touring musician and on the influence of music theory in performance.

Dr. Dickson holds degrees from Minnesota State University–Moorhead and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, having studied with John Rommel, Ed Cord, Joey Tartell, Kevin Kjos, and William Adam. 

Freddie Green

Freddie Green joined the music faculty of Missouri Southern State University in August of 2014. His current duties include directing the Southern Jazz Orchestras, Coaching Brass Quintet, Trumpet Ensemble, in addition to teaching the trumpet studio.

Previous to his appointment at Missouri Southern, Freddie was the Director of Fine Arts at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando Florida. During his tenure at Faith he annually taught music to over 300 students annually in addition to coordinating all fine arts activities throughout the campus.

As a performer Freddie toured internationally with the first Chinese tour of the musical “Chicago” the musical. His credits also include performing with the jazz legend “Sam Rivers”. Orchestral experiences have included the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Society Orchestra of Winter Park FL, Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Florida Civic Orchestra.

In addition to his academic duties Freddie is currently a member of the Walt Disney World Orchestra and the Universal Studios Brass Band in Orlando Florida.

Freddie Green's website 

Ben Hay

Benjamin Hay is a trumpeter, educator, and composer/arranger based in Northeastern Oklahoma. Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance) and the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance). He currently serves as Instructor of Music (Trumpet/Theory) at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Prior to his appointment at NSU, Mr. Hay served as Adjunct Instructor of Music at Tulsa Community College, where he taught applied trumpet, applied horn, music theory, jazz improvisation, and chamber brass. Ben is also completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trumpet Performance at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma.

Ben is a member of Tulsa’s Signature Symphony and frequently performs with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Additional performances include appearances with Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Frontier Brass Band of Oklahoma, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. A frequent recitalist, Mr. Hay has performed guest solo recitals at the University of Arkansas, University of New Mexico, Pittsburg State University, and Oklahoma State University, among others. Ben has performed as a soloist with the Signature Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa’s Starlight Band, as well as numerous high school and college ensembles. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Tulsa Camerata, the faculty brass quintets of the University of New Mexico and Northeastern State University, and the brass quintets of Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa Symphony. Mr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of the world’s top performers such as JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Zander, the Irish Tenors, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis.

Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been Andrew Cheetham, Jacob Walburn, Thomas Booth, John Marchiando, and Karl Sievers. Additionally, Ben has studied composition and arranging with Marvin Lamb, and horn performance with Eldon Matlick. Mr. Hay also serves a music reviewer for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Ben is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, ASCAP, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).

Benjamin Hay is a Conn-Selmer/Vincent Bach Endorsing Artist.

Ben Hay's website 

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York hamlet of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over forty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Orchestra and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, and the faculty jazz ensemble. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and as a former member of the Denver Brass and the Denver Brass 5 Quintet. In 2008 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and in recent years (2011) released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD Capri release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finishing the year at #5 all around. A newly recorded CD with Dave Hanson and the H2 Big Band, entitled "It Could Happen," featuring vocalist Rene Marie and some stellar Los Angeles studio players, was released by Origin Records in February of 2015.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Northeastern State University of OK, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research and performance is utilized in a newly released video documentary on Brown (Brownie Speaks by Don Glanden) and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their Clifford Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Alan Hood's website

David Hunsicker

David Hunsicker is currently the trumpet professor at Wichita State University, and principal trumpet of the Wichita Symphony and the Lancaster Festival Orchestra. 

He served as associate principal trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and principal trumpet of the Des Moines Metro Opera, and has performed extensively with orchestras such as the Phoenix Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and the Sarasota Opera.

Recent solo performances include Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings with the Wichita Symphony Orchestra and J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra.

Dr. Hunsicker holds degrees in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University and the University of Michigan. While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University, he conducted extensive research on the subject of orchestral auditions for trumpet. His principal teachers include: David Hickman, Charles Daval, Bernard Adelstein, and Irving Sarin. He is an Endorsing Artist for Bach trumpets and the inventor of the Gapper™ (www.trumpetgapper.com). 

David Hunsicker's Website

Steve Molloy

Steve Molloy is an Artist in Residence at Missouri Western State University, where he provides instruction in Applied Trumpet, the MWSU Jazz Lab, Perspectives in American Popular Music, High Brass Methods, and Chamber Brass Ensembles.  He is also an Applied Brass instructor at Kansas City Kansas Community College.  He has held similar positions at Mid America Nazarene University and as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Kansas.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music degree from St. Cloud State University and a Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Kansas.

A busy freelance schedule keeps him occupied with a wide variety of musical tasks.  He is the section leader and lead trumpet player with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, a founding member of the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band, and he can be found playing as a pit orchestra musician for many theatrical venues, including the Starlight Theater, KC Repertory Theater, Kansas City Music Hall, the New Theater, and the Musical Theater Heritage.

His passion for performing both classical and commercial music has resulted in performances either as a member or a substitute/extra with the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the St. Joseph Symphony, the Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, the Topeka Symphony, the Lawrence Chamber Orchestra, the Kansas Brass Quintet, the Kansas City Brassworks, the Brookside Brass, the Boulevard Big Band, the Trilogy Big Band, the New Vintage Big Band, the New Red Onion Jazz Babies, and a former appointment as lead trumpeter with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

He has performed as a backup musician for Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, il Divo, Barry Manilow, They Might Be Giants, the Manhattan Transfer, the Temptations, Mannheim Steamroller, the Drifters, and the Ojays.  He has also been a musician for Walt Disney World.  He is a member of the Kansas City Federation of Musicians and the International Trumpet Guild.

Grant S. Peters

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.

Prior to his appointment at Missouri State, he served as co-principal trumpet of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in the northern Spanish province of Asturias (1992). During the 1989 season, he was a member of the Columbia Artists Management ensemble Dallas Brass, touring throughout 26 states and Canada. While with the Dallas Brass, he recorded the album A Merry Christmas with Brass for the Word Label. He has performed in solo and chamber settings in Canada, Spain, Poland, England, Sweden, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He has recorded two CD’s of new American music for trumpet, Friendly Amendments (2004) for trumpet and organ, and From the Hills (2006) for solo trumpet with piano and chamber ensembles. In December of 2009 he produced and performed with the Missouri Chamber Players on Rhapsody, a recording of chamber music by American composer Richard Faith for the MSR Classics label.

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas. His principal teachers include Dennis Schneider and Leonard Candelaria. He is an Artist/Clinician for Schilke Trumpets.

Grant S. Peter's website 

William Richardson

Dr. William S. Richardson is the trumpet professor and jazz ensembles director at Northwest Missouri State University, where he has taught since 1999.  He also serves as Dennis C. Dau Endowed Professor of Music (the first endowed professorship in the institution’s history) and Assistant Department Chair.  A Fulbright Scholar, he was Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, Latvia, in 2010.  A member of the trumpet sections of the Saint Joseph (MO) Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Joseph Big Band, Richardson lives in Maryville with his wife Niki, and daughters Sarah and Leah.

Dr. Richardson holds degrees from Central Missouri State University (BME), Florida State University (MM-Trumpet Performance), and the University of Texas at Austin (DMA-Trumpet Performance).  His primary trumpet teachers were Neal Seipp, David Aaberg, Bryan Goff, and Raymond Crisara. He is a Conn-Selmer artist/clinician, performing Bach Stradivarius, Bach Artisan, and Conn Vintage-One instruments. Richardson’s affiliation with Northwest Missouri State University has taken him to Austria, China, England, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and Japan.

William Richardson's website 

Karl Sievers

Karl Siever's website 

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.

Tom Smith's website 

Tim Wootton

Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and educator.

As an orchestral musician, Tim is a member of the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Regional Opera, Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.  He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, and others.

As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Evangel University Faculty Brass Quintet and the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Salt River Brass Band, Phoenix Chamber Brass and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others.

As a soloist, Tim has been a finalist and prizewinner in various solo competitions. While a student at Missouri State, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition and a winner of the university band and orchestra solo competitions. He currently enjoys performing as a soloist and recitalist in the area.

He is an Adjunct Professor of Music (Trumpet) at Evangel University and a Faculty Associate (Trumpet) at Southwest Baptist University.  He also maintains a studio of middle and high school students.

Tim's teachers include David Hickman, Grant Peters, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb and John Shows.

 2017 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artist

Allen Vizzutti

Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 40 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, 'Doc' Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, the Army Blues and Army Symphony Orchestra, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Japan’s NHK Orchestra and the New Tokyo Philharmonic, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, , the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Leipzig Wind Symphony and the Kosie Wind Orchestra. Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Germany, St. Louis, Seattle, Rochester N.Y., Syracuse, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Phoenix, Croatia, Slovenia, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg to name a few. Music lovers in Germany, Poland, England, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States have heard his brilliant sound over the airwaves of national television. Allen's status as an artist has led to solo performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Newport Jazz Festival, Banff Center for the Performing Arts, Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Teton, Vail, Aspen and Brechenridge Music Festivals, the Charles Ives Center and Lincoln Center in New York City.

Allen Vizzutti's biography 

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.
Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Iskander Akhmadullin's website 

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

Tito Carrillo's website 

Matt Carter

Matt Carter is currently Associate Professor of Music at Independence Community College where he teaches trumpet, concert and athletic bands, and jazz ensemble. He previously taught in the public schools at Nemaha Central Schools in Kansas.

In addition to being an avid teacher, Matt has performed in a wide variety of genres. He has performed as substitute principal trumpet with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, principal trumpet with the Northern Lights Music Festival, and has played with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the University of Texas Jazz ensemble and can be heard on the album “Queenie Pie.” He has also performed chamber music for the American Composer’s Forum, the Weisman Art Museum, as well as the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX.

Matt earned his B.M.E from Pittsburg State University, his M.M. in trumpet performance from The University of Texas at Austin, and is currently A.B.D. in his doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. His teachers have included: Todd Hastings, Ray Sasaki, and David Baldwin.

Matt Carter's website 

Andrew Cheetham

Andrew Cheetham is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Eastern Illinois University. A native of Columbia, MO, Andrew attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor's in Music Education, Master's in Trumpet Performance, and Performer's Certificate. Andrew also holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Certificate of Excellence in Performance, the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, and a minor in Musicology. As a classical and jazz trumpeter as well as group leader, Andrew has performed in and conducted various ensembles across the United States and in Europe.Andrew has experience as a band director in the Austin, TX public schools and has taught trumpet, led jazz ensembles and small groups, and taught various academic courses at all levels for nearly twenty years. Andrew is a former Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Oklahoma State University, and has taught at Nazareth College, The University of Rochester, and the University of Texas. Most recently, Andrew was a trumpeter and ensemble leader in the United States Army, where he was often a featured trumpet soloist, performed in countless ceremonies, concerts and conventions all over the country, and received two Army Achievement medals for his work.

Andrew Cheetham's website 

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest. His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet.  Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others.  Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble.

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants. Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players.  As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings. These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes. Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

David Cooper's website 

Freddie Green

Freddie Green joined the music faculty of Missouri Southern State University in August of 2014. His current duties include directing the Southern Jazz Orchestras, Coaching Brass Quintet, Trumpet Ensemble, in addition to teaching the trumpet studio.

Previous to his appointment at Missouri Southern, Freddie was the Director of Fine Arts at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando Florida. During his tenure at Faith he annually taught music to over 300 students annually in addition to coordinating all fine arts activities throughout the campus.

As a performer Freddie toured internationally with the first Chinese tour of the musical “Chicago” the musical. His credits also include performing with the jazz legend “Sam Rivers”. Orchestral experiences have included the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Society Orchestra of Winter Park FL, Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Florida Civic Orchestra.

In addition to his academic duties Freddie is currently a member of the Walt Disney World Orchestra and the Universal Studios Brass Band in Orlando Florida.

Freddie Green's website 

Ben Hay

Benjamin Hay is a trumpeter, educator, and composer/arranger based in Northeastern Oklahoma. Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance) and the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance). He currently serves as Instructor of Music (Trumpet/Theory) at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Prior to his appointment at NSU, Mr. Hay served as Adjunct Instructor of Music at Tulsa Community College, where he taught applied trumpet, applied horn, music theory, jazz improvisation, and chamber brass. Ben is also completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Trumpet Performance at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma.

Ben is a member of Tulsa’s Signature Symphony and frequently performs with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Additional performances include appearances with Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Frontier Brass Band of Oklahoma, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. A frequent recitalist, Mr. Hay has performed guest solo recitals at the University of Arkansas, University of New Mexico, Pittsburg State University, and Oklahoma State University, among others. Ben has performed as a soloist with the Signature Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa’s Starlight Band, as well as numerous high school and college ensembles. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Tulsa Camerata, the faculty brass quintets of the University of New Mexico and Northeastern State University, and the brass quintets of Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa Symphony. Mr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of the world’s top performers such as JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Zander, the Irish Tenors, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis.

Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been Andrew Cheetham, Jacob Walburn, Thomas Booth, John Marchiando, and Karl Sievers. Additionally, Ben has studied composition and arranging with Marvin Lamb, and horn performance with Eldon Matlick. Mr. Hay also serves a music reviewer for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Ben is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, ASCAP, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).

Benjamin Hay is a Conn-Selmer/Vincent Bach Endorsing Artist.

Ben Hay's website 

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York hamlet of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over forty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Orchestra and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, and the faculty jazz ensemble. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and as a former member of the Denver Brass and the Denver Brass 5 Quintet. In 2008 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and in recent years (2011) released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD Capri release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finishing the year at #5 all around. A newly recorded CD with Dave Hanson and the H2 Big Band, entitled "It Could Happen," featuring vocalist Rene Marie and some stellar Los Angeles studio players, was released by Origin Records in February of 2015.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Northeastern State University of OK, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research and performance is utilized in a newly released video documentary on Brown (Brownie Speaks by Don Glanden) and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their Clifford Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Alan Hood's website 

David Hunsicker

David Hunsicker has had a varied career as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician and educator.

Dr. Hunsicker is currently principal trumpet of the Wichita Symphony, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Lancaster Festival Orchestras, has been a member of the Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras, and has served as associate principal trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed extensively with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, and the Sarasota Opera.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Hunsicker has performed numerous recitals and concerts including performances of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, several concerts with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, as a founding member of the Great Lakes Brass Quintet and most recently with the Sonoran Brass Quintet. He can be heard performing with the Sonoran Brass Quintet on the recording Dry Heat.

In addition to classical performances, Dr. Hunsicker has been an active performer of commercial music and jazz. In addition to playing in jazz bands while in school and with jazz groups in several states, he has performed many musicals, including Hello Dolly, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Miss Saigon, and The King and I.

Dr. Hunsicker has maintained an active teaching studio since 1996. He served as a graduate assistant in trumpet while pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University, also teaching at the Herberger College for Kids and Tempe Preparatory Academy. More recently, he was Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and trumpet instructor for the Omaha Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Hunsicker holds a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan. While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Solo Performance from Arizona State University, he completed extensive research on the subject of orchestral auditions for trumpet. His principal teachers include: David Hickman, Charles Daval, Bernard Adelstein, and Irving Sarin.

David Hunsicker's website 

Steve Leisring

Steve Leisring, Trumpet Professor since 2003 at the University of Kansas, has performed and taught in 15 countries on four continents, and can be heard on more than 30 internationally released recordings as an orchestral, solo and contemporary trumpet artist. As soloist on Copland's "Quiet City" on the NAXOS label with the KU Wind Ensemble, the reviews include the following descriptions- "outstanding" (Musicweb International) "First Rate" (FANFARE Magazine) and "...expressive...fine playing.." (American Record Guide). Gary Mortenson, editor of the International Trumpet Guild Journal described a "live" recital performance as "...excellent technique and precision;...requisite tonal beauty and impeccable phrasing..."
Steve has been a guest Principal Trumpet with the Kansas City Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony in Japan, as well as the Tianjin, Shenzhen and Harbin Symphony orchestras in China, and has performed with orchestras in Spain, (Tenerife, La Coruna) Sweden (Gothenburg) and the US, including the San Diego, Milwaukee and Dallas Symphonies. Professor Leisring is Principal of the Kansas Brass Quintet and has performed as 1st Cornet with the Fountain City Brass Band. As a teacher he has been a clinician in more than a dozen cities in China, including the main conservatories in Beijing, Shenyang, Xian, Chengdu, Tianjin, Shanghai etc, the Sibelius Academy in Finland and Latvian Academy of Music in Riga. In 2014, he performed as soloist at the Montreux and Brienz Jazz Festivals in Switzerland, the Vienne Jazz Festival in France, and performed with Delfeayo and Ellis Marsalis at the Tanglewood Music Center. In the Summer of 2016, he will be a featured clinician at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Anaheim, CA.

Former students have been selected as "principal trumpet" in professional orchestras in the US, Europe and Asia, and have performed with the Dallas Brass, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, various military bands, etc; while others have become teachers, lawyers, and medical professionals.

Steve Leisring is an Edwards Trumpet Artist

Steve Leisring's website 

Grant S. Peters

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator. He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.

Prior to his appointment at Missouri State, he served as co-principal trumpet of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in the northern Spanish province of Asturias (1992). During the 1989 season, he was a member of the Columbia Artists Management ensemble Dallas Brass, touring throughout 26 states and Canada. While with the Dallas Brass, he recorded the album A Merry Christmas with Brass for the Word Label. He has performed in solo and chamber settings in Canada, Spain, Poland, England, Sweden, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He has recorded two CD’s of new American music for trumpet, Friendly Amendments (2004) for trumpet and organ, and From the Hills (2006) for solo trumpet with piano and chamber ensembles. In December of 2009 he produced and performed with the Missouri Chamber Players on Rhapsody, a recording of chamber music by American composer Richard Faith for the MSR Classics label.

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas. His principal teachers include Dennis Schneider and Leonard Candelaria. He is an Artist/Clinician for Schilke Trumpets.

Grant S. Peter's website 

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter.

William Richardson's website 

Karl Sievers

Karl Sievers grew up in Louisville, KY. His primary teachers there were Delbert Hoon and Leon Rapier, who were both members of the Louisville Orchestra. Karl went to college at the School of Music at Indiana University, where his primary teacher and greatest influence was William Adam. He also gained many valuable insights into trumpet playing and professional music making from IU Professor of Jazz, Dominic Spera. While at IU he completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Trumpet Performance, and began work on the DMA. During this time at IU, Karl began to realize the wisdom of being broadly skilled in terms of participating in Jazz and Classical idioms, a conviction which has greatly benefited his career to this day. Karl’s education continued with the completion of the DMA at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Professionally, Karl has enjoyed a very busy career, having played in the orchestras of Indianapolis, Charlotte, Dayton, the Cincinnati Ballet, and a great deal of chamber music of all kinds. He is presently the principal trumpeter of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the newly formed Norman Philharmonic. In addition, his commercial playing resume is quite vast, having been on literally thousands of recording sessions, and having played lead trumpet for countless touring shows and for other headliners. Teaching is Karl’s passion, and he presently enjoys the position of Professor of Trumpet at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma.

Karl Siever's website 

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.

Tom Smith's website 

Tim Wootton

Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and educator.

As an orchestral musician, Tim is a member of the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Regional Opera, Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.  He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, and others.

As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Evangel University Faculty Brass Quintet and the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Salt River Brass Band, Phoenix Chamber Brass and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others.

As a soloist, Tim has been a finalist and prizewinner in various solo competitions. While a student at Missouri State, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition and a winner of the university band and orchestra solo competitions. He currently enjoys performing as a soloist and recitalist in the area.

He is an Adjunct Professor of Music (Trumpet) at Evangel University and a Faculty Associate (Trumpet) at Southwest Baptist University.  He also maintains a studio of middle and high school students.

Tim's teachers include David Hickman, Grant Peters, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb and John Shows.

 2016 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artist

Allan Dean

Allan Dean, Professor of Trumpet at the Yale University School of Music, is currently performing with Summit Brass, St. Louis Brass and the Yale Brass Trio. In the early music field he was a founding member of Calliope: A Renaissance Band and the New York Cornet and Sacbut Ensemble. Dean was a member of the New York Brass Quintet for 18 years and free lanced in the New York City concert and recording field for over 20 years before joining the faculty of Indiana University in 1982. In 1989 he moved back to the Northeast to join the Yale faculty. At Yale, Dean coaches brass chamber music and directs the Yale Cornet and Sacbut Ensemble in addition to teaching trumpet.

Claudio Roditi

Integrating post-bop elements and Brazilian rhythmic concepts into his palette with ease, Grammy-nominee Claudio Roditi plays with power and lyricism. As Zan Stewart, jazz reviewer for the Star-Ledger, observed, “'Master musician' is the term that comes to mind when discussing trumpeter, fl ügelhornist and composer Claudio Roditi.” A lifelong passion for the trumpet gives Claudio Roditi an open spirit for music. This fuels an ongoing search for personal expression and musical perfection. As Neil Tesser of the Chicago Reader wrote, “...I can think of only a handful of modern trumpeters who combine brain and soul, technique and wisdom in a way that matches Roditi's.”

Claudio Roditi's Biography

Claudio Roditi's Discography

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.
Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

Matt Carter

Matt Carter is currently Associate Professor of Music at Independence Community College where he teaches trumpet, concert and athletic bands, and jazz ensemble. He previously taught in the public schools at Nemaha Central Schools in Kansas.

In addition to being an avid teacher, Matt has performed in a wide variety of genres. He has performed as substitute principal trumpet with the Mankato Symphony Orchestra, principal trumpet with the Northern Lights Music Festival, and has played with the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra. He was a member of the University of Texas Jazz ensemble and can be heard on the album “Queenie Pie.” He has also performed chamber music for the American Composer’s Forum, the Weisman Art Museum, as well as the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX.

Matt earned his B.M.E from Pittsburg State University, his M.M. in trumpet performance from The University of Texas at Austin, and is currently A.B.D. in his doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. His teachers have included: Todd Hastings, Ray Sasaki, and David Baldwin.

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest. His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet.  Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others.  Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble.

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants. Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players.  As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings. These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes. Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

Freddie Green

Freddie Green joined the music faculty of Missouri Southern State University in August of 2014. His current duties include directing the Southern Jazz Orchestras, Coaching Brass Quintet, Trumpet Ensemble, in addition to teaching the trumpet studio.

Previous to his appointment at Missouri Southern, Freddie was the Director of Fine Arts at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando Florida. During his tenure at Faith he annually taught music to over 300 students annually in addition to coordinating all fine arts activities throughout the campus.

As a performer Freddie toured internationally with the first Chinese tour of the musical “Chicago” the musical. His credits also include performing with the jazz legend “Sam Rivers”. Orchestral experiences have included the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Society Orchestra of Winter Park FL, Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Florida Civic Orchestra.

In addition to his academic duties Freddie is currently a member of the Walt Disney World Orchestra and the Universal Studios Brass Band in Orlando Florida.

Benjamin Hay

Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, trumpeter Ben Hay enjoys a very active career as a professional performer and music educator. Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance) and the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance). He currently serves as Artist Instructor of Trumpet at Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, OK) and Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at Tulsa Community College. He is pursuing a D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance at the University of Oklahoma.

Ben is a member of Tulsa’s Signature Symphony and frequently performs with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra.   Additional performances include appearances with Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Frontier Brass Band of Oklahoma, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, among others. Ben has performed as a soloist with the Signature Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa’s Starlight Band, as well as numerous high school and college ensembles. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Tulsa Camerata, the faculty brass quintets of the University of New Mexico and Northeastern State University, and the brass quintets of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony. Mr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of the world’s top performers such as Joseph Alessi, James Dick, JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Zander, the Irish Tenors, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis. Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been Dr. Andrew Cheetham, Dr. John Marchiando, and Dr. Karl Sievers.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York hamlet of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over forty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Orchestra and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, and the faculty jazz ensemble. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and as a former member of the Denver Brass and the Denver Brass 5 Quintet. In 2008 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and in recent years (2011) released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD Capri release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finishing the year at #5 all around. A newly recorded CD with Dave Hanson and the H2 Big Band, entitled "It Could Happen," featuring vocalist Rene Marie and some stellar Los Angeles studio players, was released by Origin Records in February of 2015.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Northeastern State University of OK, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research and performance is utilized in a newly released video documentary on Brown (Brownie Speaks by Don Glanden) and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their Clifford Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Richard Rulli

Richard J. Rulli, trumpet, holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA), Ithaca College, New York (MM), and the University of Northern Colorado (BM/BME). He is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas where he teaches applied trumpet and brass chamber music and performs as a founding member of the Boston Mountain Brassworks (the UA faculty brass quintet in residence). He is the Principal Trumpet of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a featured performer and clinician at conventions of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) and International Brass Festival, and regionally at the CBDNA Southern Division Convention, as well as the state conventions of the Arkansas, Georgia and Wisconsin Music Educators Associations.

During the summers, he performs and teaches on the faculties of the Red Lodge Music Festival, Montana, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan. Formerly, he was the Principal Trumpet and Trumpet Soloist of the Air Force Band of the Golden West and Five Star Brass. In addition to many Air Force recordings, Dr. Rulli has recorded Images on Mark Records with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and Kent Kennan’s Sonata for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble with the CSU Wind Ensemble on Vestige Records. Rulli’s principal teachers include John Aley, Malcolm McNabb, Kim Dunnick, and William Pfund.

Karl Sievers

Karl Sievers grew up in Louisville, KY. His primary teachers there were Delbert Hoon and Leon Rapier, who were both members of the Louisville Orchestra. Karl went to college at the School of Music at Indiana University, where his primary teacher and greatest influence was William Adam. He also gained many valuable insights into trumpet playing and professional music making from IU Professor of Jazz, Dominic Spera. While at IU he completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Trumpet Performance, and began work on the DMA. During this time at IU, Karl began to realize the wisdom of being broadly skilled in terms of participating in Jazz and Classical idioms, a conviction which has greatly benefited his career to this day. Karl’s education continued with the completion of the DMA at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri Kansas City. Professionally, Karl has enjoyed a very busy career, having played in the orchestras of Indianapolis, Charlotte, Dayton, the Cincinnati Ballet, and a great deal of chamber music of all kinds. He is presently the principal trumpeter of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and the newly formed Norman Philharmonic. In addition, his commercial playing resume is quite vast, having been on literally thousands of recording sessions, and having played lead trumpet for countless touring shows and for other headliners. Teaching is Karl’s passion, and he presently enjoys the position of Professor of Trumpet at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma, in Norman, Oklahoma.

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.

Tim Wootton

Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and educator.

As an orchestral musician, Tim is a member of the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Regional Opera, Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.  He has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, and others.

As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Evangel University Faculty Brass Quintet and the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Salt River Brass Band, Phoenix Chamber Brass and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others.

As a soloist, Tim has been a finalist and prizewinner in various solo competitions. While a student at Missouri State, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition and a winner of the university band and orchestra solo competitions. He currently enjoys performing as a soloist and recitalist in the area.

He is an Adjunct Professor of Music (Trumpet) at Evangel University and a Faculty Associate (Trumpet) at Southwest Baptist University.  He also maintains a studio of middle and high school students.

Tim's teachers include David Hickman, Grant Peters, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb and John Shows.

 2015 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artists

Bobby Shew

Born Albuquerque, NM. Started guitar at age eight but switched to trumpet at age ten. At age twelve, asked to play in a local “dance band” for weddings and dance gigs. Discovered improvisation at first rehearsal. The love affair with jazz started there and has become the driving force in Bobbys’ life.

Spent summers after high school in New York City listening to the great jazz masters. Attended the first two years of Stan Kenton Summer Jazz Clinics in Bloomington , IND. In 1959 and 1960, where he was able to study under jazz greats Don Jacoby, Conte Candoli, Johnny Richards, Sam Donahue, John LaPorta, Shelly Manne, etc. Attended UNM for two years studying Architecture and Commercial Art. Drafted into Army, assigned as jazz soloist to NORAD BAND in Colorado Springs. After service, moved to NYC and joined Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, rooming and playing with legendary Charlie Shavers. After Dorsey, went to Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Si Zentner, Benny Goodman. Settled in Las Vegas for 7 years playing top show bands in casinos. Toured as lead trumpeter for Elvis Presley, Barbra Streisand, Robert Goulet, Steve Allen, Paul Anka, Connie Stevens, and Tom Jones. In 1972, moved to Los Angeles and became a first-call studio musician as well as continuing to play on big bands of Bill Holman, Bob Florence, Louie Bellson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Ed Shaughnessy, Bill Berry, and Nat Pierce-Frank Capp Juggernaut. In addition, Bobby played and recorded with combos of Bud Shank, Horace Silver, Art Pepper, and his own highly regarded quintet and sextet.

Co-Designer / developer of SHEW model Yamaha 6310Z & 8310Z trumpets and 6310Z & 8310Z flugelhorns. Designer of SOLOIST mute, Yamaha SHEW series trumpet and flugelhorn mouthpieces as well as SHEW series mouthpieces for the Marcinkiewicz Company and for Kelly Mouthpieces ( Lexan mouthpieces ).

Author of “ETUDES AND EXERCISES FOR JAZZ AND CLASSICAL PLAYER” & “BASIC STUDY GUIDE FOR TRUMPET” . Former Chairman for IAJE (16 years ) and ITG. Former Assoc. Professor of Trpt at USC ( Los Angeles – 11 years ) , Cal. State Northridge-18 years ) Calif. Institute Of The Arts ( 3 years ) . Numerous Artist-in-Residencies world-wide in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Canada, Austria.

Elected into New Mexico Music Hall Of Fame. Numerous (3) Grammy nominations and 1982 Received Jazz Album Of The Year award from RIANZ ( New Zealand ).

In 2014 awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance and Education from the International Trumpet Guild as well as the Lifetime Jazz LeJENd Award from the Jazz Educators Network. Also awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois.

Bill Williams

Bill Williams has performed as principal trumpet and soloist with orchestras and festivals internationally. His activities have included an extensive range of performances, recordings and tours with with major orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, the Berner Symphonieorchester, the Barcelona Symphony and many others. He has performed chamber music at a variety of festivals internationally and with leading ensembles including Ensemble Modern and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. During the summers, he currently serves as Artist-in-Residence at the Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara, California USA) and as solo trumpet of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra.

In addition to his life as a performer, Bill has devoted his career to helping performers better cope with the challenges of performance. In demand internationally as a performance psychology coach, he has a private practice based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Bill has served as a performance psychology faculty member/lecturer at institutions including the New World Symphony, the Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan, the Curtis Institute and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (Singapore.)

Bill was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance with the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where his main teachers were Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler. He was also awarded the Master of Arts degree in Psychology from the New School for Social Research (New York, USA.)

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Natalia Bolshakova

Dr. Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas.  She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition.  Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe.

Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively working with vocalists and instrumentalists. As a soloist and a collaborative chamber musician she has appeared in England, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, and in many states of the USA.The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.

She has been on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri since 2004.

Andrew Cheetham

Andrew Cheetham is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Eastern Illinois University. A native of Columbia, MO, Andrew attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor's in Music Education, Master's in Trumpet Performance, and Performer's Certificate. Andrew also holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Certificate of Excellence in Performance, the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, and a minor in Musicology. As a classical and jazz trumpeter as well as group leader, Andrew has performed in and conducted various ensembles across the United States and in Europe.Andrew has experience as a band director in the Austin, TX public schools and has taught trumpet, led jazz ensembles and small groups, and taught various academic courses at all levels for nearly twenty years. Andrew is a former Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Oklahoma State University, and has taught at Nazareth College, The University of Rochester, and the University of Texas. Most recently, Andrew was a trumpeter and ensemble leader in the United States Army, where he was often a featured trumpet soloist, performed in countless ceremonies, concerts and conventions all over the country, and received two Army Achievement medals for his work.

Jesse Cook

Dr. Jesse Cook is the Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Dr. Cook has recently enjoyed performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Lyric Opera, the Austin Bach Cantata Project, and the City Limits Brass Quintet. Recent solo and orchestral appearances have included Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben and Alpine Symphony, Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat and Petrouchka, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Handel’s Messiah, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances for West Side Story, and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.

A frequent recitalist and clinician, Dr. Cook has performed for and instructed students at universities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. Dr. Cook has a D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas, Austin. While in Austin, Dr. Cook served as the TA to the trumpet program and the brass chamber program. Dr. Cook also has a M.M. from UT Austin and a B.M.E. from Roosevelt University. His principal instructors are Ray Sasaki, Mark Hughes, Mark Ridenour and Channing Philbrick. From 2006 - 2008, Dr. Cook was the band director at John Marshall Harlan High School in Chicago. During this time he revitalized Harlan’s band program, taking it from thirty to one hundred and twenty students, who performed exclusively on one hundred and sixty school owned instruments acquired during Dr. Cook’s tenure.

Dr. Cook has written two articles published in the International Trumpet Guild titled “Studying Music Performance Anxiety.” In addition, Dr. Cook was an invited speaker at the 2014 Texas Music Educator Association annual Conference and the 2014 ITG conference. He also has been asked to be a guest lecturer at several universities around the country, including the University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota and Baylor University, and the University of Houston.

Dr. Cook moved to eastern Oklahoma in the summer of 2014. He lives with his wife, Dr. Dorea Cook and their cat Zelda at their home in Tahlequah, where they all root for the Green Bay Packers every Sunday in the fall.

Jason Dovel

Dr. Jason Dovel joined the University of Kentucky (UK) School of Music faculty in 2013. He teaches applied trumpet lessons, directs the trumpet ensemble, and serves as principal trumpet of the Faculty Brass Quintet. Prior to his appointment at UK, he taught at the University of North Texas, North Central Texas College, and Northeastern State University.

He is an active soloist and clinician, having appeared as a guest artist at many festivals and universities throughout the United States. His debut solo CD, Lost Trumpet Treasures, was released in summer 2014 by Mark Records. As an orchestral trumpeter, he has performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic, Amici New York Orchestra, Tulsa Ballet, Dallas Opera, Tulsa Opera, Toledo Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and many other groups. He has published articles in the Music Educators Journal, International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Journal, The Instrumentalist and has been a recordings reviewer for the ITG Journal since 2006. He serves ITG as Employment Editor and Chair of the annual ITG Solo Competition. Also active as a composer, his compositions and arrangements are available through Hickman Music Editions.

Jason Dovel is grateful for the tutelage of many wonderful teachers, including Keith Johnson, George Novak, Charles Saenz, James Kluesner, Charlie Geyer, Barbara Butler, Barry Bauguess (Baroque trumpet), and Bruce Dickey (cornetto). He completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in trumpet performance at the University of North Texas in 2007.

Ryan Gardner

Dr. Ryan Gardner, Associate Professor of Trumpet, received his B.M. from Eastman School of Music with highest distinction, his M.M. from Rice University - Shepherd School of Music, and his D.M.A. from Manhattan School of Music. He performs, teaches, and provides masterclasses and lectures internationally and across the US.

Dr. Gardner has played with the Los Angeles and Rochester Philharmonics; Honolulu, Charleston, and Tulsa Symphonies; Artosphere Festival Orchestra; Aldeburgh Festival Britten-Pears Orchestra in England; and Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland. He also enjoys chamber music, having played with the Three-Fifths trio; Eastman, Rochester Philharmonic, and Houston Symphony Brass Quintets; as well as concerts with the new music ensembles Alarm Will Sound and Crash Ensemble. Dr. Gardner has also been privileged to work with artists such as Ray Charles, Doc Severinson, Canadian Brass, Allen Vizzutti, and Wayne Bergeron.

Dr. Gardner continues to enjoy impressive teaching successes. His students have been accepted on scholarship into distinguished graduate programs and elite summer festivals. OSU’s Trumpet Ensemble has received rave reviews and standing ovations for their performances at International Trumpet Guild Conferences. Under the direction of Dr. Gardner, OSU’s trumpet program has achieved distinguished success at the regional, national, and international levels; most recently winning the 2014 and 2015 Trumpet Ensemble Division at the National Trumpet Competition as well as International Trumpet Guild Scholarship awards.

Extracurricularly, Dr. Gardner is the Artist Coordinator for Music for Autism.

Dr. Gardner is a Bach Performing Artist and Clinician. He has recorded with Naxos, Mark Records, and BX Entertainment. He is indebted to all of his main trumpet teachers: Vincent Penzarella, Mark Gould, Marie Speziale, James Thompson, Boyde Hood, and Paul Salvo.

Freddie Green

Freddie Green joined the music faculty of Missouri Southern State University in August of 2014. His current duties include directing the Southern Jazz Orchestras, Coaching Brass Quintet, Trumpet Ensemble, in addition to teaching the trumpet studio.

Previous to his appointment at Missouri Southern, Freddie was the Director of Fine Arts at Faith Christian Academy in Orlando Florida. During his tenure at Faith he annually taught music to over 300 students annually in addition to coordinating all fine arts activities throughout the campus.

As a performer Freddie toured internationally with the first Chinese tour of the musical “Chicago” the musical. His credits also include performing with the jazz legend “Sam Rivers”. Orchestral experiences have included the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Bach Festival Society Orchestra of Winter Park FL, Ocala Symphony Orchestra, Space Coast Symphony Orchestra, and the Central Florida Civic Orchestra.

In addition to his academic duties Freddie is currently a member of the Walt Disney World Orchestra and the Universal Studios Brass Band in Orlando Florida.

Benjamin Hay

Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, trumpeter Ben Hay enjoys a very active career as a professional performer and music educator.  Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (BM Performance) as well as the University of New Mexico (MM Performance) and serves as an adjunct instructor for Tulsa Community College, where he teaches trumpet, brass chamber music, and assists in conducting the concert band.  He is also pursuing a doctorate in trumpet performance at the University of Oklahoma.

As an orchestral musician, Ben currently performs as member of the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College as well as Acting Third Trumpet with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. He has also performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Opera, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, among others.  As a soloist, Ben has performed with Tulsa’s Starlight Band, Signature Symphony at TCC, as well as the Tulsa Community College Concert Band and Orchestra.  As a chamber musician, Ben has appeared with the brass quintets of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Signature Symphony at TCC, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.  He has performed as a member of the University of New Mexico graduate and faculty brass quintets as well as being a founding member of Tulsa Brass. In 2009, Ben was selected to be a part of the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, TX.  In 2010 Ben attended the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, CO and was named the winner of RMBI Mock Orchestral Audition Competition for trumpet.  Mr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of some of the world’s top performers such as Joseph Alessi, Marshall Gilkes, Slide Hampton, Greg Bissonnette, Tito Carillo, James Dick, JoAnn Falletta, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis.

Possessing a deep commitment to music education, Mr. Hay maintains a dynamic private trumpet studio of more than thirty students, which consists of students from Owasso, Coweta, Tulsa Union, Catoosa, and Jenks public schools.  Students from Ben’s studio consistently win high chairs in All-District and All-State Band auditions, receive Superior ratings at solo and ensemble contests, and are regularly awarded college scholarships.   Additionally, Ben serves on the staff of the Coweta band program where he heads the high school marching brass caption as well as assists with all other aspects of brass instruction.

Mr. Hay’s professional affiliations include the International Trumpet Guild and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).  Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been William Ballenger, Jacob Walburn, Dr. Andrew Cheetham, Thomas Booth, Dr. John Marchiando, and Dr. Karl Sievers.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York hamlet of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over forty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Orchestra and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, and the faculty jazz ensemble. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, and as a former member of the Denver Brass and the Denver Brass 5 Quintet. In 2008 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and in recent years (2011) released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD Capri release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finishing the year at #5 all around. A newly recorded CD with Dave Hanson and the H2 Big Band, entitled "It Could Happen," featuring vocalist Rene Marie and some stellar Los Angeles studio players, was released by Origin Records in February of 2015.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Northeastern State University of OK, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research and performance is utilized in a newly released video documentary on Brown (Brownie Speaks by Don Glanden) and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their Clifford Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

David Hunsicker

David Hunsicker has had a varied career as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician and educator.

Dr. Hunsicker is currently principal trumpet of the Wichita Symphony, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Lancaster Festival Orchestras, has been a member of the Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras, and has served as associate principal trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed extensively with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, and the Sarasota Opera.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Hunsicker has performed numerous recitals and concerts including performances of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, several concerts with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, as a founding member of the Great Lakes Brass Quintet and most recently with the Sonoran Brass Quintet. He can be heard performing with the Sonoran Brass Quintet on the recording Dry Heat.

In addition to classical performances, Dr. Hunsicker has been an active performer of commercial music and jazz. In addition to playing in jazz bands while in school and with jazz groups in several states, he has performed many musicals, including Hello Dolly, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Miss Saigon, and The King and I.

Dr. Hunsicker has maintained an active teaching studio since 1996. He served as a graduate assistant in trumpet while pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University, also teaching at the Herberger College for Kids and Tempe Preparatory Academy. More recently, he was Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and trumpet instructor for the Omaha Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Hunsicker holds a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan. While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Solo Performance from Arizona State University, he completed extensive research on the subject of orchestral auditions for trumpet. His principal teachers include: David Hickman, Charles Daval, Bernard Adelstein, and Irving Sarin.

Steve Leisring

Steve Leisring, Trumpet Professor since 2003 at the University of Kansas, has performed and taught in 15 countries on four continents, and can be heard on more than 30 internationally released recordings as an orchestral, solo and contemporary trumpet artist. As soloist on Copland's "Quiet City" on the NAXOS label with the KU Wind Ensemble, the reviews include the following descriptions- "outstanding" (Musicweb International) "First Rate" (FANFARE Magazine) and "...expressive...fine playing.." (American Record Guide). Gary Mortenson, editor of the International Trumpet Guild Journal described a "live" recital performance as "...excellent technique and precision;...requisite tonal beauty and impeccable phrasing..."
Steve has been a guest Principal Trumpet with the Kansas City Symphony, the Tokyo Symphony in Japan, as well as the Tianjin, Shenzhen and Harbin Symphony orchestras in China, and has performed with orchestras in Spain, (Tenerife, La Coruna) Sweden (Gothenburg) and the US, including the San Diego, Milwaukee and Dallas Symphonies. Professor Leisring is Principal of the Kansas Brass Quintet and has performed as 1st Cornet with the Fountain City Brass Band. As a teacher he has been a clinician in more than a dozen cities in China, including the main conservatories in Beijing, Shenyang, Xian, Chengdu, Tianjin, Shanghai etc, the Sibelius Academy in Finland and Latvian Academy of Music in Riga. In 2014, he performed as soloist at the Montreux and Brienz Jazz Festivals in Switzerland, the Vienne Jazz Festival in France, and performed with Delfeayo and Ellis Marsalis at the Tanglewood Music Center. In the Summer of 2016, he will be a featured clinician at the International Trumpet Guild Conference in Anaheim, CA.

Former students have been selected as "principal trumpet" in professional orchestras in the US, Europe and Asia, and have performed with the Dallas Brass, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, various military bands, etc; while others have become teachers, lawyers, and medical professionals.

Steve Leisring is an Edwards Trumpet Artist

Grant S. Peters

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.

Prior to his appointment at Missouri State, he served as co-principal trumpet of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in the northern Spanish province of Asturias (1992).  During the 1989 season, he was a member of the Columbia Artists Management ensemble Dallas Brass, touring throughout 26 states and Canada. While with the Dallas Brass, he recorded the album A Merry Christmas with Brass for the Word Label.  He has performed in solo and chamber settings in Canada, Spain, Poland, England, Sweden, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He has recorded two CD’s of new American music for trumpet, Friendly Amendments (2004) for trumpet and organ, and From the Hills (2006) for solo trumpet with piano and chamber ensembles.  In December of 2009 he produced and performed with the Missouri Chamber Players on Rhapsody, a recording of chamber music by American composer Richard Faith for the MSR Classics label. 

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas.  His principal teachers include Dennis Schneider and Leonard Candelaria.  He is an Artist/Clinician for Schilke Trumpets.

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter.

Richard Rulli

Dr. Richard J. Rulli, trumpet, holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA), Ithaca College, New York (MM), and the University of Northern Colorado (BM/BME). He is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas where he teaches applied trumpet and brass chamber music and performs as a founding member of the Boston Mountain Brassworks (the UA faculty brass quintet in residence) He is the Principal Trumpet of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a featured performer and clinician at conventions of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) and International Brass Festival, and regionally at the CBDNA Southern Division Convention, as well as the state conventions of the Arkansas, Georgia and Wisconsin Music Educators Associations. During the summers, he performs and teaches on the faculties of the Red Lodge Music Festival, Montana, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan. Formerly, he was the Principal Trumpet and Trumpet Soloist of the Air Force Band of the Golden West and Five Star Brass. In addition to many Air Force recordings, Dr. Rulli has recorded Images on Mark Records with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and Kent Kennan’s Sonata for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble with the CSU Wind Ensemble on Vestige Records. Rulli’s principal teachers include John Aley, Malcolm McNabb, Kim Dunnick, and William Pfund.

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.  

Tim Wootton

Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and educator.

As an orchestral musician, Tim is a member of the Springfield Symphony, Springfield Regional Opera, Springfield-Drury Civic Orchestra and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. He is an extra/substitute player with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Arkansas Symphony and the Fort Smith Symphony.

As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Evangel Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet, Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Mr. Jack Daniel's Silver Cornet Band, Salt River Brass Band, Phoenix Chamber Brass and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others. He has played with Mannheim Steamroller, the Three Tenors and a varied collection of music shows and musical theatre productions.

As a soloist, Tim has been a finalist and prizewinner in various solo competitions. While a student at Missouri State, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition, a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition, and won the university band and orchestra solo competitions. He currently enjoys performing as a soloist and recitalist in the area.

As an educator, Tim is an Adjunct Professor of Music (Trumpet) at Evangel University and a Faculty Associate (Trumpet) at Southwest Baptist University. He is a Guest Artist Faculty at the Midwest Trumpet Festival and the Northeastern State (OK) Trumpet Festival. He also maintains a studio of middle and high school students.

Tim received a Master’s Degree from Arizona State University and Bachelor’s Degree from Missouri State University, with additional study at the Aspen Music Festival. His teachers include David Hickman, Grant Peters, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb and John Shows

Barbara York

Barbara York has been working in both Canada and the U.S. for over 40 years as a concert accompanist, choral and theatrical music director and composer. Her score and lyrics for the Canadian musical Colette won a Dora Mavor Moore Award (Canada’s version of a Tony) in 1981. She has received commissions from two Canadian symphony orchestras, the Boise State University Symphonic Winds and the Boise State Symphony Orchestra, plus numerous private groups and soloists in both the US and Canada, most recently the International Womens' Brass Conference.

Her 50-minute scripted, children’s piece, A Butterfly in Time was nominated for a Canadian “Juno Award” for recordings in 2006 and is available through Amazon.com and elsewhere under the Children’s Group label. Conversations, for Euphonium, Alto Saxophone and Piano, won the Harvey Phillips Award for Euphonium in Chamber Music at the 2006 International Tuba Euphonium Congress and has been recorded by Adam Frey, its commissioner.

Her Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra was recorded by Tim Buzbee with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and is available internationally through Albany Records. More than 10 other CD's are available commercially that feature her compositions and are available through Amazon.com, ITunes and CDBaby, including "How Beautiful, the music of Barbara York" by Matthew Brown.

Barbara York's music is published by Cimarron Music Press and she is a regular Staff Accompanist at Pittsburg State University.

 2014 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artist

David Hickman

David Hickman is considered one of the world’s pre-eminent trumpet virtuosos and has performed over 2,000 solo appearances around the world as a recitalist or guest soloist with over 500 different orchestras.  His tours have taken him to Japan, Korea, Spain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Greece, Russia, Belgium, France, Austria, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland, Thailand, Australia, and virtually every major American city.

David Hickman, playing as soloist with The American Sinfonietta in the Musikverein, played the trumpet concerto by Hummel.  Spectacular was his playful change from staccato to a songful, soft legato with almost unending arches of phrasing and virtuosic agility of his delivery.”  -Weiner Zeitung  (Vienna, Austria) 

Hickman has released 19 solo albums encompassing a wide variety of repertoire—from cornet solos by Clarke, Levy, and others, to modern concerti by Planel, Baker, and Plog; from baroque works of Bach, Telemann, and Hertel, to recital pieces by Chance, Dello Joio, and Mendez. 

“David Hickman is an astounding musician.  His articulation and phrasing are impeccable. More importantly, the wide affective range he coaxes from his instrument is continuously revelatory.” -Fanfare

As a noted clinician and author, Hickman has presented workshops on over 300 major university campuses.  He has taught at the Banff Centre for the Arts (13 summers), Rafael Mendez Brass Institute (28 summers), Bremen Trumpet Days, and dozens of music festivals.  He has published over 40 articles, 200 scholarly editions of trumpet music, and several important trumpet and music texts including The Piccolo Trumpet, The Piccolo Trumpet Big Book, Trumpet Lessons With David Hickman (vols. I - V), and Music Speed Reading, a sight reading method used by hundreds of public school systems and universities or conservatories including The University of North Texas and The Juilliard School. His latest 500-page book, Trumpet Pedagogy: A Compendium of Modern Teaching Techniques, is the number one text for university study and is used at over 200 schools of music around the world.  His newest book, Trumpet Greats: A Biographical Dictionary (hardbound, 1,118 pgs.) contains 2,212 biographies plus 2,500 photos of important trumpeters since the early Baroque period.

David Hickman received his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Colorado in 1972.  He continued graduate work at Wichita State University where he was a Graduate Trumpet Teaching Assistant for two years.  He taught at the University of Illinois from 1974 to 1982, and since then has been teaching at Arizona State University where he is a Regents’ Professor of Music (since 1989).  He has been a member of the Wichita Brass Quintet, Illinois Brass Quintet, Saint Louis Brass Quintet, Baroque Consort, and the Illinois Contemporary Chamber Players.

Hickman is founder and president of the acclaimed Summit Brass, a large all-star American brass ensemble that has released 11 CDs, toured the world and hosted annual brass music institutes for thousands of aspiring musicians.  He is also a past president of the International Trumpet Guild (1977-79).  Mr. Hickman is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

“The most difficult task facing any trumpeter is not the production of bright, assertive fanfare, but rather the task of coaxing agile, cantabile lines from the most stentorian of instruments. David Hickman proved himself expert in both capacities.” -New York Times

Hickman’s teachers include Harry E. McNees, Frank W. Baird, Walter J. Myers, Roger Voisin, Armando Ghitalla and Adolph Herseth. His former students occupy or have occupied hundreds of orchestra, band, chamber music and university positions at such institutions as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Mexico City Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Denver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, US Marine Band, US Coast Guard Band, US Army Field Band, Wichita Symphony, Tulsa Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, Canadian Brass, Meridian Arts Ensemble. Markus Stockhausen Ensemble, San Diego Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra. Columbus Symphony, Florida Gulf Coast Symphony, Cincinnati Conservatory, Michigan State University, University of Arizona, UCLA, Southern Methodist University, University of Denver, University of Oregon, Washington State University, Georgia State University, West Chester University, Kent State University, Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois, Western Illinois University, University of Nebraska-Omaha, Middle Tennessee State University, Towson University, Peabody Conservatory, Northern Arizona University, Western Washington University, Montana State University, and many others. Hickman received the International Trumpet Guild’s prestigious “Award of Merit” for lifetime achievement in 2005

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Natalia Bolshakova

Dr. Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas.  She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition.  Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe.

Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively working with vocalists and instrumentalists. As a soloist and a collaborative chamber musician she has appeared in England, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, and in many states of the USA.The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.

She has been on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri since 2004.

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

Andrew Cheetham

Andrew Cheetham is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Eastern Illinois University. A native of Columbia, MO, Andrew attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor's in Music Education, Master's in Trumpet Performance, and Performer's Certificate. Andrew also holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Certificate of Excellence in Performance, the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, and a minor in Musicology. As a classical and jazz trumpeter as well as group leader, Andrew has performed in and conducted various ensembles across the United States and in Europe.Andrew has experience as a band director in the Austin, TX public schools and has taught trumpet, led jazz ensembles and small groups, and taught various academic courses at all levels for nearly twenty years. Andrew is a former Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Oklahoma State University, and has taught at Nazareth College, The University of Rochester, and the University of Texas. Most recently, Andrew was a trumpeter and ensemble leader in the United States Army, where he was often a featured trumpet soloist, performed in countless ceremonies, concerts and conventions all over the country, and received two Army Achievement medals for his work.

Jesse Cook

Dr. Jesse Cook is the Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Dr. Cook has recently enjoyed performances with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Lyric Opera, the Austin Bach Cantata Project, and the City Limits Brass Quintet. Recent solo and orchestral appearances have included Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben and Alpine Symphony, Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat and Petrouchka, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Handel’s Messiah, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances for West Side Story, and Mahler’s Ninth Symphony.

A frequent recitalist and clinician, Dr. Cook has performed for and instructed students at universities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma. Dr. Cook has a D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas, Austin. While in Austin, Dr. Cook served as the TA to the trumpet program and the brass chamber program. Dr. Cook also has a M.M. from UT Austin and a B.M.E. from Roosevelt University. His principal instructors are Ray Sasaki, Mark Hughes, Mark Ridenour and Channing Philbrick. From 2006 - 2008, Dr. Cook was the band director at John Marshall Harlan High School in Chicago. During this time he revitalized Harlan’s band program, taking it from thirty to one hundred and twenty students, who performed exclusively on one hundred and sixty school owned instruments acquired during Dr. Cook’s tenure.

Dr. Cook has written two articles published in the International Trumpet Guild titled “Studying Music Performance Anxiety.” In addition, Dr. Cook was an invited speaker at the 2014 Texas Music Educator Association annual Conference and the 2014 ITG conference. He also has been asked to be a guest lecturer at several universities around the country, including the University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, University of Minnesota and Baylor University, and the University of Houston.

Dr. Cook moved to eastern Oklahoma in the summer of 2014. He lives with his wife, Dr. Dorea Cook and their cat Zelda at their home in Tahlequah, where they all root for the Green Bay Packers every Sunday in the fall.

Jason Dovel

Dr. Jason Dovel joined the University of Kentucky (UK) School of Music faculty in 2013. He teaches applied trumpet lessons, directs the trumpet ensemble, and serves as principal trumpet of the Faculty Brass Quintet. Prior to his appointment at UK, he taught at the University of North Texas, North Central Texas College, and Northeastern State University.

He is an active soloist and clinician, having appeared as a guest artist at many festivals and universities throughout the United States. His debut solo CD, Lost Trumpet Treasures, was released in summer 2014 by Mark Records. As an orchestral trumpeter, he has performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic, Amici New York Orchestra, Tulsa Ballet, Dallas Opera, Tulsa Opera, Toledo Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and many other groups. He has published articles in the Music Educators Journal, International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Journal, The Instrumentalist and has been a recordings reviewer for the ITG Journal since 2006. He serves ITG as Employment Editor and Chair of the annual ITG Solo Competition. Also active as a composer, his compositions and arrangements are available through Hickman Music Editions.

Jason Dovel is grateful for the tutelage of many wonderful teachers, including Keith Johnson, George Novak, Charles Saenz, James Kluesner, Charlie Geyer, Barbara Butler, Barry Bauguess (Baroque trumpet), and Bruce Dickey (cornetto). He completed a Doctor of Musical Arts in trumpet performance at the University of North Texas in 2007.

Ryan Gardner

Dr. Ryan Gardner is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Oklahoma State University.  Originally from Santa Monica, California, Dr. Gardner received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music with highest distinction, his Master of Music Degree from Rice University-Shepherd School of Music, and his D.M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.

In addition to impressive teaching successes, Dr. Gardner also continues to enjoy an exciting performing career.  As an orchestral performer, Dr. Gardner has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Tulsa Symphony, the Tulsa Opera, the New World Symphony, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the Aldeburgh Festival Britten-Pears Orchestra in England, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra directed by James Levine in Switzerland.  He has also performed in many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery-Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, and the Palau de la Musica Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.  Dr. Gardner is an avid chamber musician playing with the Three-Fifths trio, the Eastman Brass Quintet, the Rochester Philharmonic Brass Quintet, the Houston Symphony Brass Quintet, as well as concerts with the new music ensembles Alarm Will Sound, and Crash Ensemble.  Dr. Gardner has also been privileged to work with artists such as Ray Charles, Doc Severinson, the Canadian Brass, Allen Vizzutti, Lenny Pickett, and Michael Tillson-Thomas, to name a few.

Under the direction of Dr. Gardner since 2011, the Oklahoma State University Trumpet Studio has taken extraordinary strides.  Dr. Gardner’s students have been accepted on scholarship into distinguished graduate programs including the New England Conservatory, DePaul University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Southern California, University of Louisville and University of Texas-Austin.  After receiving a standing ovation for their performance at the 2012 International Trumpet Guild Conference, the OSU Trumpet Ensemble has been invited to perform again at the 2013 Conference.  Dr. Gardner’s students have achieved success at the regional and national levels, most recently placing in the top 6 of the Trumpet Ensemble Division and top 5 in the Undergraduate Solo Division at the 2013 National Trumpet Competition.

In 2010, Dr. Gardner was honored as the Spotlight Artist of the Year by Music for Autism.  He is a Bach performing artist and clinician and continues to perform, teach, and provide master classes and lectures internationally.  He has recorded with Naxos, Mark Records, and BX Entertainment.

He is indebted to all of his main trumpet teachers:  Vincent Penzarella, Mark Gould, Marie Speziale, James Thompson, Boyde Hood, and Paul Salvo.

Benjamin Hay

Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, trumpeter Ben Hay enjoys a very active career as a professional performer and music educator.  Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (BM Performance) as well as the University of New Mexico (MM Performance) and serves as an adjunct instructor for Tulsa Community College, where he teaches trumpet, brass chamber music, and assists in conducting the concert band.  He is also pursuing a doctorate in trumpet performance at the University of Oklahoma.

As an orchestral musician, Ben currently performs as member of the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College as well as Acting Third Trumpet with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas. He has also performed with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Opera, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, among others.  As a soloist, Ben has performed with Tulsa’s Starlight Band, Signature Symphony at TCC, as well as the Tulsa Community College Concert Band and Orchestra.  As a chamber musician, Ben has appeared with the brass quintets of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Signature Symphony at TCC, and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas.  He has performed as a member of the University of New Mexico graduate and faculty brass quintets as well as being a founding member of Tulsa Brass. In 2009, Ben was selected to be a part of the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, TX.  In 2010 Ben attended the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, CO and was named the winner of RMBI Mock Orchestral Audition Competition for trumpet.  Mr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of some of the world’s top performers such as Joseph Alessi, Marshall Gilkes, Slide Hampton, Greg Bissonnette, Tito Carillo, James Dick, JoAnn Falletta, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis.

Possessing a deep commitment to music education, Mr. Hay maintains a dynamic private trumpet studio of more than thirty students, which consists of students from Owasso, Coweta, Tulsa Union, Catoosa, and Jenks public schools.  Students from Ben’s studio consistently win high chairs in All-District and All-State Band auditions, receive Superior ratings at solo and ensemble contests, and are regularly awarded college scholarships.   Additionally, Ben serves on the staff of the Coweta band program where he heads the high school marching brass caption as well as assists with all other aspects of brass instruction.

Mr. Hay’s professional affiliations include the International Trumpet Guild and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).  Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been William Ballenger, Jacob Walburn, Dr. Andrew Cheetham, Thomas Booth, Dr. John Marchiando, and Dr. Karl Sievers.

Miriam Hickman

Pianist Miriam Hickman completed her DMA at Arizona State University where she served as a Faculty Associate in accompanying from 1982-1987. Dr. Hickman has served as a staff accompanist for the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Tuba & Euphonium Conference, the International Double Reed Society Conference, and the Southwest Regional Conference of the World Saxophone Congress.  She has accompanied solo performers from major U.S. symphonies including New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, the National Symphony, San Francisco, and Phoenix, and frequently subs on various keyboards with the Phoenix Symphony. She has been guest pianist with such ensembles as Quintessence, Arpeggio, and Southwest Brass, and was a founding member of the Bavarde Quartet. Dr. Hickman received her Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. In addition to her active freelance career, she is also the organist at Church of the Epiphany in Tempe, Arizona and the owner of Classic Touch Music Academy where she teaches nearly sixty piano students a week.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years.  Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over thirty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings.  Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass trio, and the faculty jazz ensemble.  Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass.  As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Denver Brass 5 Quintet and the Olstad-Montgomery Big Band.  In 2009 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and has just released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others.  The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks.  Al’s playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finished the year at #5 all around.

 Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance.  Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia.  His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson.  As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few.  He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference.  He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic,  Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences.   Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer.  His research will be utilized in a forthcoming video documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

David Hunsicker

David Hunsicker has had a varied career as an orchestral musician, soloist, chamber musician and educator.

Dr. Hunsicker is currently principal trumpet of the Wichita Symphony, Des Moines Metro Opera and the Lancaster Festival Orchestras, has been a member of the Flint, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras, and has served as associate principal trumpet of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed extensively with the Michigan Opera Theatre, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Omaha Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Florida Grand Opera, and the Sarasota Opera.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dr. Hunsicker has performed numerous recitals and concerts including performances of Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, several concerts with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, as a founding member of the Great Lakes Brass Quintet and most recently with the Sonoran Brass Quintet. He can be heard performing with the Sonoran Brass Quintet on the recording Dry Heat.

In addition to classical performances, Dr. Hunsicker has been an active performer of commercial music and jazz. In addition to playing in jazz bands while in school and with jazz groups in several states, he has performed many musicals, including Hello Dolly, 42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Guys and Dolls, Gypsy, Miss Saigon, and The King and I.

Dr. Hunsicker has maintained an active teaching studio since 1996. He served as a graduate assistant in trumpet while pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Arizona State University, also teaching at the Herberger College for Kids and Tempe Preparatory Academy. More recently, he was Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and trumpet instructor for the Omaha Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Hunsicker holds a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Indiana University and a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan. While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts in Solo Performance from Arizona State University, he completed extensive research on the subject of orchestral auditions for trumpet. His principal teachers include: David Hickman, Charles Daval, Bernard Adelstein, and Irving Sarin.

Grant S. Peters

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.

Prior to his appointment at Missouri State, he served as co-principal trumpet of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in the northern Spanish province of Asturias (1992).  During the 1989 season, he was a member of the Columbia Artists Management ensemble Dallas Brass, touring throughout 26 states and Canada. While with the Dallas Brass, he recorded the album A Merry Christmas with Brass for the Word Label.  He has performed in solo and chamber settings in Canada, Spain, Poland, England, Sweden, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He has recorded two CD’s of new American music for trumpet, Friendly Amendments (2004) for trumpet and organ, and From the Hills (2006) for solo trumpet with piano and chamber ensembles.  In December of 2009 he produced and performed with the Missouri Chamber Players on Rhapsody, a recording of chamber music by American composer Richard Faith for the MSR Classics label. 

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas.  His principal teachers include Dennis Schneider and Leonard Candelaria.  He is an Artist/Clinician for Schilke Trumpets.

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter.

Richard Rulli

Dr. Richard J. Rulli, trumpet, holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (DMA), Ithaca College, New York (MM), and the University of Northern Colorado (BM/BME). He is currently Associate Professor of Music at the University of Arkansas where he teaches applied trumpet and brass chamber music and performs as a founding member of the Boston Mountain Brassworks (the UA faculty brass quintet in residence) He is the Principal Trumpet of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been a featured performer and clinician at conventions of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) and International Brass Festival, and regionally at the CBDNA Southern Division Convention, as well as the state conventions of the Arkansas, Georgia and Wisconsin Music Educators Associations. During the summers, he performs and teaches on the faculties of the Red Lodge Music Festival, Montana, and the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan. Formerly, he was the Principal Trumpet and Trumpet Soloist of the Air Force Band of the Golden West and Five Star Brass. In addition to many Air Force recordings, Dr. Rulli has recorded Images on Mark Records with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and Kent Kennan’s Sonata for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble with the CSU Wind Ensemble on Vestige Records. Rulli’s principal teachers include John Aley, Malcolm McNabb, Kim Dunnick, and William Pfund.

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.  

Tim Wootton

Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist and educator.
As an orchestral musician, Tim performs as an Extra/Substitute player with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Ft. Smith Symphony and the Springfield Symphony. In addition to being an Extra/Substitute player with the New World Symphony in 2006, he has performed with the Krakow Chamber Orchestra, Tempe Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Ozarks and the Springfield Regional Opera, among others.

As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Evangel Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet, Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Salt River Brass Band, Phoenix Chamber Brass and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others. He has played with Mannheim Steamroller, the Three Irish Tenors and a varied collection of music shows and musical theatre productions.

As a soloist, Tim has been a finalist and prizewinner in various solo competitions. While a student at Missouri State, he won the band and orchestra solo competitions the same year.  In 2005, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition in Bangkok, Thailand. He enjoys performing as a soloist with various ensembles and in church settings.

As an educator, Tim is an Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at Evangel University and Southwest Baptist University.  He also maintains a studio of middle and high school students.

Tim received a Bachelor of Music degree from Missouri State University and a Master of Music degree from Arizona State University, with additional study at the Aspen Music Festival.  His teachers include Grant Peters, David Hickman, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb and John Shows.

 2013 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artist

Joe Burgstaller

Trumpeter JOE BURGSTALLER has thrilled audiences throughout the world with his stunning virtuosity, captivating sensitivity and engaging personality. Formerly with CANADIAN BRASS (8 years as a featured trumpeter/arranger) and the avant-garde MERIDIAN ARTS ENSEMBLE (6 years), he was also one of the all-time most popular SOLOISTS at COLUMBIA ARTISTS' COMMUNITY CONCERTS (alumni include Van Cliburn and Heifetz), performing over 60 solo concerts every year.

Burgstaller has performed in front of more than 40 orchestras (Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, New Jersey, Virginia, et.al), in more than 50 Music Festivals, and has performed and taught at over 80 universities, conservatories and colleges. His extensive discography includes his solo CDs License to Thrill and The Virtuoso Trumpet and three Top-10 Billboard hits with Canadian Brass. His last two CDs with his crossover group BM4 were Top-50 on the JazzRadio charts and the Roots Radio Report (under Paul Simon but right above the Beastie Boys).

Mr. Burgstaller tours worldwide as a soloist, with his hit crossover group BM4 (BurgstallerMartignon4), with the revolutionary NY Brass Arts Trio, and as a clinician and teacher. He is on the faculty at THE PEABODY INSTITUTE (The Johns Hopkins University) in Baltimore, MD, where he teaches trumpet, chamber music and a special Performance Class series for all instruments called "Change Your Mind, Change Your Playing". Every summer he teaches at the MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST in Santa Barbara, CA.

Joe is a former full-time member and featured trumpeter with Canadian Brass, and holds the third longest tenure on trumpet in the history of that famed group. Joe toured worldwide with the Brass, performing in recital and with orchestra (Philadelphia, Minnesota, Detroit, Houston, Baltimore, New Jersey, Seattle, et al.) and contributed arrangements to the group as well. Recordings that spotlight Joe include a Juno-nominated release, Magic Horn, (AllMusicGuide.com heralded Joe's "superb set of arrangements" of Astor Piazzolla), BACH (includes his pyrotechnical arrangement of the Bach-Vivaldi Concerto in D), Legends (featuring his La Virgen de la Macarena— "Unbelievable Virtuosity" — DigitalIndie.net) and High Society ("Burgstaller's piccolo playing throughout this album is no less than perfect... I had to pinch myself for thinking that I heard a high clarinet!" - Brass Herald Magazine). Three Canadian Brass CDs featuring Joe became Top-10 Billboard hits.

Prior to joining the Brass, Joe was one of the all-time most popular soloists at Columbia Artists' Community Concerts (alumni include Van Cliburn and Heifetz). He was North America's busiest trumpet recitalist, performing nearly 60 solo concerts every season with his Joe Burgstaller: The Rafael M&eactue;ndez Project.  He developed a community engagement component that took the circuit by storm, and his lauded audience-building plans added over 30 new season-ticket subscribers per presenter. As a Yamaha Artist and Clinician, Joe reached thousands of students every season, and The Instrumentalist Magazine dubbed Joe "The Next Méndez". Dr. Robert Méndez, son of the legendary trumpeter, wrote of Joe: "He's mastered my father's works."

His extensive discography includes his solo CD The Virtuoso Trumpet and three Top-10 Billboard hits with Canadian Brass. His first release with BM4, Mozart's Blue Dreams, vaulted immediately into the Top-50 JazzRadio Charts, playing on over 100 radio stations. Their followup CD Bach's Secret Files charted for several months on the Roots Radio Report (under Paul Simon, but right above the Beastie Boys). He is an active arranger and composer, and is in his second decade as a Yamaha Performing Artist. Joe's hobby is video production, and his inventive music videos for bothMozart's Blue Dreams and Bach's Secret Files were debuted worldwide by Yamaha America and Yamaha Europe to an audience of over 10,000 viewers in a special industry-leading video-podcast release.

Joe co-leads the crossover jazz quartet BM4 (BurgstallerMartignon4), a New York City-based crossover group that features Grammy and Oscar-nominated musicians. Their first recordingMozart's Blue Dreams & Other Crossover Fantasies debuted directly into the Top50 JazzRadio charts and continues to receive rave reviews ("Ethereal moments of true beauty and genius... hip and approachable." — AllAboutJazz.com; "Stunning!" — JazzNotes). BM4 records for Summit Records (North America) and CARE Music Group (Europe). Their latest release, Bach's Secret Drawer & More Crossover Fantasies was released in April 2011, and charted for several months on the Roots Radio Report (under Paul Simon, but right above the Beastie Boys).

Mr. Burgstaller teaches trumpet, chamber music and a special 8-part series of all-instrument performance masterclasses at The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Joe has built a groundbreaking one-of-a-kind trumpet studio that prepares their students for the demands and reality of today's music world. His teaching emphasizes creativity, connection, versatility and entrepreneurship, and he combines the best of traditional techniques with an innovative mental training approach that has its roots in the field's modern breakthrough discoveries of the last two decades.

Burgstaller is also a former member of New York City's Meridian Arts Ensemble (1995-2001), and with that group toured worldwide at concert halls and clubs including NYC's Knitting Factory and CBGB's, and Amsterdam's Bimhuis, received the ASCAP "Adventurous Programming Award" (shared with the Kronos Quartet) and recorded several of his own compositions and arrangements. Gramophone Magazine heralded Joe's original work Lullaby as "an understated gem."

Joe was a child prodigy, beginning the cornet at age six. By age twelve he was improvising jazz and soloing with area bands and jazz clubs, and by fifteen was the youngest professional in the Virginia Opera Orchestra. He received both his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Arizona State University (studying with Regents' Professor David Hickman). Other teachers and mentors include Anthony Plog, Stephen Carlson, Jonathan Greenburg, Gary Gompers and David Fedderly. Joe was awarded Arizona State University's Inaugural "Distinguished Alumnus Award", and the Inaugural "Outstanding Alumnus Award" from Eastern Music Festival.

Joe Burgstaller is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Keith Benjamin

Keith Benjamin joined the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance as professor of trumpet in 1989 with a doctor of musical arts degree and a Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. While in New York, he was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic and held principal chairs in three other orchestras. Current orchestra positions include principal trumpet in the Colorado MahlerFest, and extra trumpet for the St. Louis and Kansas City Symphonies.

In addition to orchestral playing, Dr. Benjamin is an active recitalist and chamber musician, and is first trumpet in the Missouri Brass Quintet. He has commissioned and premiered numerous works, including compositions of Samuel Adler, James Mobberley, Eugene O'Brien, and many others. Kansas City also affords him the opportunity to have a lively professional career as a commercial, studio, and lead trumpet player, including recording the "signature spot" for CNBC-TV. Dr. Benjamin is partnered with Los Angeles organist Melody Steed in "Clarion", a trumpet & organ duo which emphasizes 20th century music. The duo recently released Clarion: New Vintage, their second disc on Gothic Records, this one consisting of all commissioned American works. Dr. Benjamin is a clinician for the Selmer/Bach companies.

Natalia Bolshakova

Dr. Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas.  She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition.  Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe.

Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively working with vocalists and instrumentalists. As a soloist and a collaborative chamber musician she has appeared in England, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, and in many states of the USA.The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.

She has been on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri since 2004.

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest. His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet.  Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others.  Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble. 

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants. Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players.  As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings. These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes. Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

Ryan Gardner

Dr. Ryan Gardner is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Oklahoma State University.  Originally from Santa Monica, California, Dr. Gardner received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music with highest distinction, his Master of Music Degree from Rice University-Shepherd School of Music, and his D.M.A. from the Manhattan School of Music.

In addition to impressive teaching successes, Dr. Gardner also continues to enjoy an exciting performing career.  As an orchestral performer, Dr. Gardner has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Honolulu Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Tulsa Symphony, the Tulsa Opera, the New World Symphony, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, the Aldeburgh Festival Britten-Pears Orchestra in England, and the Verbier Festival Orchestra directed by James Levine in Switzerland.  He has also performed in many prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Avery-Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Merkin Hall, and the Palau de la Musica Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain.  Dr. Gardner is an avid chamber musician playing with the Three-Fifths trio, the Eastman Brass Quintet, the Rochester Philharmonic Brass Quintet, the Houston Symphony Brass Quintet, as well as concerts with the new music ensembles Alarm Will Sound, and Crash Ensemble.  Dr. Gardner has also been privileged to work with artists such as Ray Charles, Doc Severinson, the Canadian Brass, Allen Vizzutti, Lenny Pickett, and Michael Tillson-Thomas, to name a few.

Under the direction of Dr. Gardner since 2011, the Oklahoma State University Trumpet Studio has taken extraordinary strides.  Dr. Gardner’s students have been accepted on scholarship into distinguished graduate programs including the New England Conservatory, DePaul University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Southern California, University of Louisville and University of Texas-Austin.  After receiving a standing ovation for their performance at the 2012 International Trumpet Guild Conference, the OSU Trumpet Ensemble has been invited to perform again at the 2013 Conference.  Dr. Gardner’s students have achieved success at the regional and national levels, most recently placing in the top 6 of the Trumpet Ensemble Division and top 5 in the Undergraduate Solo Division at the 2013 National Trumpet Competition.

In 2010, Dr. Gardner was honored as the Spotlight Artist of the Year by Music for Autism.  He is a Bach performing artist and clinician and continues to perform, teach, and provide master classes and lectures internationally.  He has recorded with Naxos, Mark Records, and BX Entertainment.

He is indebted to all of his main trumpet teachers:  Vincent Penzarella, Mark Gould, Marie Speziale, James Thompson, Boyde Hood, and Paul Salvo.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years.  Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.  He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over thirty other jazz, commercial and classical recordings.  Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass trio, and the faculty jazz ensemble.  Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute (and a former 5-year host!), featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Denver Brass 5 Quintet and the Olstad-Montgomery Big Band. In 2009 Alan released his first solo CD "Just A Little Taste" which features the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn and has just released a new big band CD with Hanson and the H2 Big Band called "You're It!" featuring the exciting trumpet playing of guest Bobby Shew, among others. The CD peaked at #10 on the national Jazz Week chart and was #1 on Bob Parlocha’s Top 40 list for several weeks. Al's playing can also be heard on the 2010 double-CD release by trombonist Curtis Fuller entitled "I Will Tell Her," which reached #1 on Jazz Week, and Curtis Fuller’s 2012 Capri release “Down Home,” also reaching #1 on the Jazz Week charts and finished the year at #5 all around.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance.  Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit, several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research will be utilized in a forthcoming video documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Grant S. Peters

Grant S. Peters is Professor of Music at Missouri State University, where he teaches applied studio trumpet and serves as the Brass Area Coordinator.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.

Prior to his appointment at Missouri State, he served as co-principal trumpet of the Orquesta del Principado de Asturias in the northern Spanish province of Asturias (1992).  During the 1989 season, he was a member of the Columbia Artists Management ensemble Dallas Brass, touring throughout 26 states and Canada. While with the Dallas Brass, he recorded the album A Merry Christmas with Brass for the Word Label.  He has performed in solo and chamber settings in Canada, Spain, Poland, England, Sweden, Thailand, Russia and the Czech Republic.

He has recorded two CD’s of new American music for trumpet, Friendly Amendments (2004) for trumpet and organ, and From the Hills (2006) for solo trumpet with piano and chamber ensembles.  In December of 2009 he produced and performed with the Missouri Chamber Players on Rhapsody, a recording of chamber music by American composer Richard Faith for the MSR Classics label. 

Peters holds the Bachelor of Music in Education degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas.  His principal teachers include Dennis Schneider and Leonard Candelaria.  He is an Artist/Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Marc Reed

Dr. Marc Reed currently serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet and Music Department Chair at Fort Lewis College, where he teaches applied trumpet, brass ensembles, and brass methods. He is the Principal Trumpet and the Musician’s Representative to the Board of Directors with the San Juan Symphony Orchestra, Editor of the International Trumpet Guild Journal’s Trumpet in the Wind Band Column, Third Trumpet with the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra, Solo Cornet with the Great Western Rocky Mountain Brass Band, Artist Faculty Member with the National Trumpet Competition, and is an Artist/Clinician for the Bach Trumpet Division of the Conn-Selmer Corporation.

Reed has presented clinics at the 2013 International Trumpet Guild Conference, 2013 Texas Music Educators Association Conference, 2013 Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference, 2012 Florida and Colorado Music Educators Association Conferences, 2011 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, 2011 Alabama Music Educators Association Conference, and the 2009 Iowa Bandmasters Association Conference. He performed William Price’s Sans Titre for Solo Trumpet at the New Works Recital at the 2013 ITG Conference. He has published several articles on brass pedagogy and is a contributing member of the ITG Journal’s Recording Review and Book Review staffs. He annually serves as a Conference Reporter for the ITG Journal. Reed can be heard on over a dozen recordings on the DJ Music, Mark, Kalvier, and GIA Windworks labels.

Reed holds a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Trumpet Performance and Brass Pedagogy from the University of North Texas, Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from The University of North Texas, and Bachelor’s Degrees in both Music Education and Trumpet Performance (with a jazz emphasis) from Drake University. Reed studied trumpet with Keith Johnson, John Holt, Richard Giangiulio, and Andrew Classen. He was a three-year member of the North Texas Wind Symphony, directed by Eugene Corporon. He studied wind conducting with Eugene Corporon, Dennis Fisher, and Sue Samuels.

Reed was born and raised in central Iowa. He resides in picturesque Durango, Colorado with his wife Katherine, who is the Director of Instrumental Music at Durango High School, and their two Vizsla dogs Penny and Wrigley.

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter. 

Keith Winking

Keith Winking is a professor at Texas State University, where he teaches trumpet, directs the Texas State Jazz Orchestra, and is a member of the SouthWest BrassWorks. Dr. Winking received his undergraduate degree in Music Education from Quincy University, his M.M. in Trumpet Performance from Texas State, and his D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His teachers have included Raymond Crisara, Vince Cichowicz, Leon Rapier and Don "Jake" Jacoby. He has served as a visiting lecturer to scores of universities and conservatories, including the Crane School of Music and the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories.
Dr. Winking has presented solo and ensemble concerts and clinics throughout the United States, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland and Russia. He is a freelance trumpet player, performing with many local and national groups, including the Austin Symphony, the Austin Jazz Orchestra, James Brown, the Manhattan Transfer, and the Austin Sinfonietta. He has extensive recording experience and has recorded national jingles for McDonalds and American Express. He has also taped numerous TV shows, including PBS's "Lonesome Pines," TNN's "Texas Connection," PBS's "Austin City Limits" and a taping for the BBC entitled "Rhythms of the World." He has presented papers at the International Trumpet and New York Brass Conferences and also published articles in The International Trumpet Guild Journal and the International Jazz Educators Journal. Dr. Winking is voting member of the National Association of the Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy's) and a clinician for the Selmer Company.

 2012 Festival Poster (PDF)

View the Trumpet Guild write-up of the 2012 Trumpet Festival

Featured Guest Artists

Ryan Anthony

Virtuoso trumpeter Ryan Anthony is most notably known for his varied career as soloist, educator, chamber musician and orchestral player. Having departed the world-renowned brass ensemble Canadian Brass in 2003, Anthony quickly became one of the most sought after trumpet players in America, prompting the celebrated trumpeter, Doc Severinsen, to note: He will be missed with [Canadian Brass], but I feel certain he will have a great and distinguished career as a soloist.

While Mr. Anthony'’'s technical skills are well known, his ability to combine that with an innate musicality and a profound connection with audiences is what sets him apart as a performer. Anthony continues to win over audiences and critics with his charismatic performances and artistic finesse. Reviews have said “In his hands, the horn gets beyond the stereotype to become a mouthpiece for the composer’s voice and performer’s personality” (Memphis Commercial Appeal) and “There must be other trumpet players in this world as fine as Ryan Anthony, but you’d never think so while listening to him play” (Fanfare Magazine).

Highlights from Season 2010-2011 include Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, premiere recording of Lowell Liebermann’s Trumpet Concerto with Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Artist in Residence for Arizona Music Fest, Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1 for Trumpet and Strings with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and recording ‘Live 2010’ with the All-Star Brass Quintet, reuniting with former Canadian Brass colleague and trumpeter Jens Lindemann. Season 2011-2012 will include a repeat visit with the Pensacola Symphony for its annual New Year’s Eve Gala, All-Star Brass recording ‘Live 2011’, premiere recording with Dallas Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet and numerous appearances with ‘Anthony & Beard’, an entertaining show that expands the repertoire for trumpet and organ.

Ryan Anthony’s solo career started as a 16-year-old prodigy when he won the highly publicized Seventeen Magazine/General Motors Concerto Competition – the second person ever to win the Grand Prize after Joshua Bell. Subsequent teenage solo appearances included the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Kennedy Center and State Department, Washington D.C., as well as a feature on WQXR radio New York City. In addition, being selected as a 1987 Presidential Scholar to winning both the John P. Paynter and Bank of America National Achievement Awards and his inclusion in Who’s Who in America are some of the early accolades he received.

Since then he has appeared as soloist with over 30 ensembles including the Dallas, St. Louis, Springfield, Dayton, Winston-Salem Symphonies, IRIS, Wisconsin, Portland Chamber Orchestras and the Pershing’s Own Army Band, Washington D.C... Summer festivals with solo engagements include New Hampshire Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Sewanee Music Festival, Blast of Brass and international Pan-Pacific Music Festival, Sydney, Australia, Affinis Music Festival, Hiroshima, Japan, and Banff Music Festival, Alberta, Canada.

After departing Canadian Brass in 2003, Mr. Anthony once again joined the ranks with Canadian Brass in the summer of 2006 as part of the “Dream Team” and appeared in additional performances and recordings for several more years. Prior to joining the Brass, he was a member of the Center City Brass Quintet and Burning River Brass whose recordings continue to enjoy air play on classical stations throughout the country. Other ensembles in which Ryan Anthony can be heard on recordings are with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, All-Star Brass Quintet, International Celebrity Trumpet Ensemble (made up of principal players throughout Europe and England) and multiple recordings with duo ‘Anthony & Beard’. Gary Beard, on both organ and piano, joins Mr. Anthony in a unique show that has won audiences over throughout this country as well as appearances in Russia and Canada. ‘Anthony & Beard’ along with Mr. Anthony’s solo recordings can be heard on the Opening Day Entertainment label.

Mr. Anthony is currently Principal Trumpet with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and since 2004 has also appeared as principal trumpet for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony and played in the sections of New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra and Israel Philharmonic.

As an educator he was Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music prior to joining the Canadian Brass in 2000 and served as Artist/Faculty at North Carolina School of the Arts during 2004-2005. His master classes have spanned the globe to include leading conservatories in Europe, Asia, and North America. He is currently a Yamaha artist and has edited and recorded both the Haydn and Hummel Trumpet Concertos for Hal Leonard Publishing. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ryan Anthony received the school’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2001.

Byron Stripling

A spectacular trumpeter with a very wide range, a beautiful tone, and the ability to blend together many influences into his own style, Byron Stripling is also the artistic director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, leader of his own quartet, and constantly in demand to play with pops orchestras around the world. Byron is an extroverted performer who brings the audience into his music. The happiness that he exudes through his trumpet, his vocals and his words is reminiscent of Louis Armstrong yet very much his own.

Byron Stripling was born in Atlanta, the son of a classical singer. “I heard gospel music in church early on. In our house, music was essential to everything. My father loved jazz including Miles Davis, Clark Terry and Louis Armstrong. My brother played clarinet and sax and I played trumpet, starting when I was ten or eleven. I did a lot of singing from the start because, when your father is the choir director, you have to sing whatever he needs each Sunday.” Due to his father's work, Byron's youth was spent in several locations including Atlanta, Kentucky, Colorado, Minnesota, St. Louis and Texas.

Originally Byron enrolled at the Eastman School Of Music with plans to become a classical trumpeter. “I loved classical music but my heart kept on going to Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham.” Already very technically skilled, he met Clark Terry during his freshman year and, after Terry heard him play, he asked Byron to join his big band. The 12-week tour was Byron's first trip to Europe and he had the opportunity to start friendships with such players as Branford Marsalis and Conrad Herwig.

After returning to school, he was three months away from graduation when he realized that he would graduate with no gig. Byron called Clark Terry and asked what he should do now. “Clark called me back a short time later, said that he had talked to Lionel Hampton, and that Lionel wanted to offer me a job. The problem was that Lionel wanted me to join the band right then. I jumped at the chance and never went back to getting my degree. Performing was the most important thing for me.” It ended up being a very good move, starting Byron Stripling in the music business.

During his year with Hampton, Byron was featured each night, usually on “When You're Smiling.” “He told me to play simple for him and he pushed me a lot in the direction of Louis Armstrong, whose music I loved anyway.” Next was a stint with the Woody Herman Orchestra and then in 1985, the trumpeter joined the Count Basie Orchestra, playing with the band on and off for four years during the periods when it was led by Thad Jones and Frank Foster. During a few months Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine toured with the band. He also had opportunities to play with orchestras led by Gillespie and Buck Clayton. Byron proved to be both a superb lead player and a colorful soloist who was quickly learning how to excite audiences.

In 1988, after auditions were held all over the country, Byron Stripling was picked to play the lead in the musical Satchmo: America's Musical Legend. After opening in New Orleans, the show played in Atlanta, The Kennedy Center and North Carolina before finally closing in Boston. “For me, it was important as being one of the ways in which I learned how to integrate entertainment into a musical presentation in a comfortable way.” Later, Byron continued acting on an episode of the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series.

In 1989, Byron Stripling first played with the Boston Pops Orchestra. “I had the opportunity to appear on the Boston Pops television show when it was conducted by John Williams. That has since led to a great deal of work with pops orchestras.” Byron developed several different shows that he performs with orchestras and so far he has appeared with over 50 different symphony and pops orchestras including the Boston Pops under the direction of Keith Lockhart and John Williams, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Utah Symphony and the Toronto Symphony. Byron has also performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and the GRP All Star Big Band, he has worked in the studios, and his trumpet has been heard on numerous soundtracks of films and Broadway shows. A few years ago he was featured at the Monterey Jazz Festival with Dave Brubeck.

In 2002, Byron Stripling became the artistic director and conductor of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra. He had performed previously with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra and, when the founder left after 30 years, Byron was the logical person to become his successor. “The Columbus Jazz Orchestra is an incredible organization that performs over 50 concerts a year in a beautiful concert hall. I take care of the programming, decide who the guest artists will be, come up with the concept, balance the artistic and the commercial, and work on any aspects of production that need help.” Byron has presented such guest artists as Branford Marsalis, Chuck Mangione, Patti Austin, John Pizzarelli, Mavis Staples, Melba Moore and Wycliffe Gordon but remains the orchestra's biggest draw. His performances are full of remarkable musicianship, wit, showmanship, and a joyous spirit.

While the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, which recently recorded The Colors Of Jazz, takes up a portion of Byron Stripling's time, he also makes many guest appearances with pops orchestras, conducts occasional clinics and seminars at colleges and high schools, and tours extensively with his own quartet. Byron gets more of an opportunity to stretch out in the latter setting, making appearances at many festivals and clubs. He has recorded as a leader (Stripling Now, Trumpetblowingly Yours, and Byron, Get One Free) and is well featured with the New York All Stars on the CDs We Love You, Louis and Play More Music Of Louis Armstrong. Byron can also be heard on CDs with Tony Bennett, Natalie Cole, Lena Horne, Sonny Rollins, Paquito D'Rivera, Gerry Mulligan, J.J. Johnson, Carla Bley, Jim Hall, Jack McDuff, Freddie Cole, Carol Sloane Benny Green, the Joe Henderson Big Band, the Count Basie Orchestra, the GRP All-Star Band, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band and numerous Broadway Cast Albums.

For the future, Byron Stripling says, “I want to keep improving my ability to communicate musically to an audience, putting all of my influences and interests together while having the results be natural. There are always infinite possibilities in music.” One of the giants of the trumpet and an irresistible entertainer, Byron Stripling is always well worth seeing and hearing. One looks forward to his future accomplishments.

-Scott Yanow

Guest Artists

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany.  Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire.  Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Natalia Bolshakova

Dr. Natalia Bolshakova studied at the Moscow Conservatory and the University of North Texas.  She has been a prizewinner in many competitions, including the New Orleans International Piano Competition and the Ima Hogg Young Artist International Competition.  Ms. Bolshakova has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and in Europe.

Equally successful as a chamber musician, Dr. Bolshakova has been actively working with vocalists and instrumentalists. As a soloist and a collaborative chamber musician she has appeared in England, France, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Spain, Bulgaria, and in many states of the USA.The Gramophone magazine listed two Crystal Records albums of the trumpeter John Holt with Natalia Bolshakova among the best new recordings from North America in 2005.

She has been on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Missouri since 2004.

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

Andrew Cheetham

Andrew Cheetham is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Eastern Illinois University. A native of Columbia, MO, Andrew attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor's in Music Education, Master's in Trumpet Performance, and Performer's Certificate. Andrew also holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Certificate of Excellence in Performance, the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, and a minor in Musicology. As a classical and jazz trumpeter as well as group leader, Andrew has performed in and conducted various ensembles across the United States and in Europe.Andrew has experience as a band director in the Austin, TX public schools and has taught trumpet, led jazz ensembles and small groups, and taught various academic courses at all levels for nearly twenty years. Andrew is a former Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Oklahoma State University, and has taught at Nazareth College, The University of Rochester, and the University of Texas. Most recently, Andrew was a trumpeter and ensemble leader in the United States Army, where he was often a featured trumpet soloist, performed in countless ceremonies, concerts and conventions all over the country, and received two Army Achievement medals for his work.

Crowder Jazz Orchestra

The Crowder Jazz Orchestra was formed in the fall of 2005 and grew out of a love for traditional big band jazz music and a need for a community-based ensemble in the Camp Crowder community.  The band’s personnel are comprised of community and professional musicians alike.  CJO has the ability to connect with audiences of all musical tastes and ages and often presents public concerts in tandem with educational outreach events.  Recent concerts have included performances at the Webb City Jazz Festival, Crowder College, and Missouri Southern State University.

The collective credentials of this ensemble are extraordinary.  Members of the group have performed with such luminaries as Joe Williams, Slide Hampton, Henry Mancini, Doc Severinsen, Aretha Franklin, Bernadette Peters, Charlie Haden, Woody Herman, Wayne Newton, Ben Vereen, The O’Jays, and many others.

This diverse ensemble presents repertoire ranging from classic jazz standards to arrangements by today’s leading big band composers and arrangers.  Whether performing in concert halls, jazz festivals, or night clubs, the Crowder Jazz Orchestra brings excitement and style to every performance.

Jason Dovel

A versatile performer on the modern trumpet, Baroque trumpet, and the Renaissance cornetto, Jason Dovel joined the NSU music faculty in 2007. He has been a soloist and clinician at numerous universities throughout the country, including the University of Michigan, University of Memphis, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of South Alabama, Bethune-Cookman University, Oakland University, Eastern Michigan University, Arkansas Tech University, and Eastfield College. He is a founding member and principal trumpet of the NSU Faculty Brass Quintet, who recently performed at the 2012 Oklahoma Music Educators Association convention in Tulsa. He is a member of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas) and Ash Lawn Opera (Charlottesville, Virginia) and also performs regularly with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Opera, and Tulsa Camerata.

Since 2009, he has served on the summer faculty of the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Michigan, where he plays in the Festival Orchestra, Festival Band, Faculty Winds, and Faculty Brass Quintet. He has also spent summers performing at the Crested Butte Musical Festival (Colorado), Heritage Theatre Festival (Virginia), OK Mozart Festival (Oklahoma), Bowling Green Summer Music Institute (Ohio), and the North Texas Conductors' Collegium.

Dr. Dovel has published articles in the International Trumpet Guild Journal and The Instrumentalist and has been a recordings reviewer for the International Trumpet Guild Journal since 2006. He has also recorded numerous discs with the North Texas Wind Symphony (GIA WindWorks), Lone Star Wind Orchestra (Naxos Records), and the Bowling Green Philharmonia (Albany Records). Prior to his appointment at NSU, he taught at the University of North Texas and North Central Texas College.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over two dozen other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

 Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, Aries, and the faculty jazz combo, the Climb. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently the host and a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute, featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Aries Brass Quintet and Conjunto Colores. Alan is in the midst of his first solo CD recording project which will feature the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research will be utilized in a forthcoming documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Al enjoys sharing time with his wonderful daughter Kyrié and exploring life, travel and photography with his wife Jennifer.

Tom Smith

Dr. Tom Smith is Professor of Trumpet at Edison State College in Fort Myers, Florida.  He is also director of the Edison Symphony Orchestra; Symphonic Band; Jazz Ensembles; and the Edison Pops at Sunset Concert Series at ESC.  A highly experienced musician, composer, and educator, Dr. Smith received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in trumpet performance from the University of Texas at Austin, and the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.   He has previously taught Trumpet at Montgomery College, Berry College, and the University of Texas.   His teachers include Raymond Crisara; Carolyn Sanders; Bryan Goff; Ralph Montgomery; Betty Scott; and John Schnell.

He began performing professionally at the age of fourteen, and has shared the stage with numerous prominent artists and musical ensembles from many genres of music.   Among these include performances with jazz greats Lionel Hampton; Diane Schuur; Charlie Haden; Duke Ellington Repertory Ensemble with Gunther Schuller; Freddie Hubbard; Don Ellis; Bill Watrous; Kim Richmond, and many others.   He has performed with the Victoria Bach Festival Orchestra; the Rome Symphony Orchestra (GA); the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra; the Naples Opera Orchestra; the Chamber Players of the South;  the Georgia Bach Festival Orchestra; and as Solo Cornetist  at the North American Brass Band Association National Competition.   Other credits include many engagements with traveling Jazz; Rock; and R&B groups; Circus and Rodeo bands; and  Pit Orchestra performances with numerous Regional and National productions, including the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes; Camelot with Richard Harris; Peter Allen; and many others.  

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter. 

 2011 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artists

Joe Alessi

Joeseph Alessi Principal Trombone
The Gurnee F. and Marjorie L. Hart Chair
Joseph Alessi was appointed Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic in the spring of 1985. He began musical studies in his native California with his father, Joseph Alessi, Sr. As a high school student in San Rafael, California, and was a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony before continuing his musical training at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music. Prior to joining the Philharmonic, Mr. Alessi was second trombone of The Philadelphia Orchestra for four seasons, and principal trombone of L'Orchestre symphonique de Montreal for one season. In addition, he has performed as guest principal trombonist with the London Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall led by Pierre Boulez.

Mr. Alessi is an active soloist, recitalist, and chamber music performer. In April 1990 he made his solo debut with the New York Philharmonic, performing Creston's Fantasy for Trombone, and in 1992 premiered Christopher Rouse's Pulitzer Prize-winning Trombone Concerto with the Philharmonic, which commissioned the work for its 150th anniversary celebration. His most recent appearance with the Philharmonic as soloist was in world premiere performances of Melinda Wagner's Trombone Concerto in February of 2007.

Mr. Alessi has been a guest soloist with the Lincoln Symphony, National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Orchestra of Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Sicily, Mannheim National Theater Orchestra, National Symphony of Taiwan, Puerto Rico Symphony, Hague Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, and the Hartford Symphony. Mr. Alessi has also participated in numerous festivals, including the Festivale Musica di Camera in Protogruaro, Italy; Cabrillo Music Festival; Swiss Brass Week; and Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. He was featured in the 1997 International Trombone Festival in Feldkirch, Austria, and the International Meeting of Brass Instruments in Lille, France. He is a founding member of the Summit Brass ensemble at the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Tempe, Arizona. In 2002 Mr. Alessi was awarded an International Trombone Association Award for his contributions to the world of trombone music and trombone playing.

Mr. Alessi is currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School; his students now occupy posts with many major symphony orchestras in the U.S. and internationally. As a clinician for the Edwards Instrument Co., he has also given master classes throughout the world and has toured Europe extensively as a master teacher and recitalist. He has performed as soloist with several leading concert bands, including the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point, U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own), and the U.S. Marine Band (President's Own).

Mr. Alessi's discography includes many releases on the Summit record label, including the recent Trombonastics, and a disc with New York Philharmonic Principal Trumpet Philip Smith entitled Fandango; he also recorded New York Legends on the Cala label. His live recording of the Rouse Concerto with the New York Philharmonic can be heard on Volume II of the recent release, An American Celebration, on New York Philharmonic Special Editions, the Orchestra's own recording label. Three new recordings are scheduled for release in 2007: Return to Sorrento, on the Naxos record label, and two recordings on the Summit record label that feature Mr. Alessi with Columbus State University Wind Ensemble and the Imperial Brass Band. In addition, conductor/composer Bramwell Tovey recently recorded a piece written especially for Mr. Alessi, entitled Urban Cabaret with Mr. Alessi as soloist.

Mr. Alessi was invited by the International Trombone Association to record a solo disc of newly composed works, which was distributed to the Association's membership of 5,000 trombonists in early 1999 and is now available as Beyond the End of the Century through Summit Records. Recently, his recording of George Crumb's Starchild on the Bridge record label, featuring Mr. Alessi as soloist, won a Grammy Award for 1999-2000. Other recordings featuring Mr. Alessi are with the Canadian Brass (Sony Classical and Philips Records).
Further information about Mr. Alessi can be found on his website, www.slidearea.com.

Vince DiMartino

Vince DiMartino is one of our country's most sought after trumpet performers and educators.  Since graduating from The Eastman School of Music in 1972, professor DiMartino had taught at the University of Kentucky until 1993.  At that time, Mr. DiMartino began a new appointment as Distinguished Artist in residence at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.  There he teaches trumpet, brass and jazz ensembles, and jazz history.  He has served as the Music Chair and is currently coordinator of the Centre College Instrumental Program.  He is distinguished Matton Professor of Music at Centre College.

Vince DiMartino is equally known as a jazz artist.  He has been the lead and solo trumpet in the Lionel Hampton Band, the Chuck Mangione Band, the Clark Terry Band and The Eastman Arranger's Holiday Orchestra.  He has also performed with some of this country's finest college jazz ensembles. Vince has been a member of the artist-faculty of the highly acclaimed Skidmore Jazz Institute since its inception in 1988 working with fellow artist-teachers Milt Hinton, Todd Coolman, Ed Shaughnessy, Frank Mantooth, Curtis Fuller, Dick Oatts and Pat LaBarbera.
The International Trumpet Guild has featured Mr. DiMartino as an artist-clinician in major solo programs at their conferences including Louisiana State University, University of Gothenburg-Sweden, University of Colorado, University of New Mexico, University of Denver and London, England. DiMartino also was a guest at the University of Kentucky Conference in 1998, an event that Professor DiMartino hosted at this same location in 1982.

He has served twice as President and Vice President of The International Trumpet Guild as well as a member of its Board of Directors for two terms.  He serves as chair of the Board of Directors of The National Trumpet Competition in Washington, D.C.

Mr. DiMartino has been soloist with many symphony orchestra including Cincinnati, Buffalo, Sante Fe, North Carolina, Orlando, Baton Rouge and Rochester, New York.  He also appeared as guest soloist with the Boston Pops on their Summer Tour '99 and a national television broadcast of the same.  He has also been a soloist with the Army Blues Jazz Band, The Army Brass Band, The U.S. Air Force Band of Flight and The United States Marine Band.  Mr. DiMartino is the first civilian to perform with this ensemble.  He is also co-founder of the New Columbian Brass Band, a turn-of-the-century town band, with Dr. George Foreman, Director of the Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College.  The band has recorded three CD's for Dorian Records.Mr. DiMartino is also prominently featured on some of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra's most recent recordings including, "Mancini's Greatest Hits", "Bond and Beyond", "Big Hit Parade", and "Hollywood's Greatest Hits".  He recorded Mel Torme's "Christmas Album" as lead trumpet. Mr. DiMartino also has completed a recording project on Summit Records with jazz artists Allen Vizzutti and Bobby Shew and The Summit Brass called, "Trumpet Summit".

With Dr. Schuyler Robinson, Mr. DiMartino made a recording for Mark Records with the DiMartino-Robinson trumpet and organ duo entitled "Orchestral Favorites for Trumpet and Organ".  The ITG has designated this CD as its membership gift CD.  The duo was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. In the summer of 1994 he performed in the Lincoln Center with The Canadian Brass, The New York Philharmonic Brass and The New York Brass.  He also was a featured artist-teacher at the Kiev International Trumpet Competition in 1998.

Throughout his teaching career, Professor DiMartino has been a member of the artist faculty of many international seminars and courses. These include The Empire Brass Quintet-Tanglewood summer program, The Spanish Brass Festival in Alzira-Spain, The Kalavrita Brass Course in Greece, as well as seminars in England, Ukraine, Thailand, Germany and Canada.

Guest Artists

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over two dozen other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, Aries, and the faculty jazz combo, the Climb. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently the host and a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute, featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Aries Brass Quintet and Conjunto Colores. Alan is in the midst of his first solo CD recording project which will feature the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research will be utilized in a forthcoming documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Al enjoys sharing time with his wonderful daughter Kyri and exploring life, travel and photography with his wife Jennifer.

Iskander Akhmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He is a co-principal trumpet of the Missouri Symphony Orchestra.

Iskander Akhmadullin has performed as a soloist and as a member of various groups in the United States, Russia, Australia, Japan, Austria and Germany. Active as both a recitalist and a chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of the works from the Russian trumpet repertoire. Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition and the Midwest Trumpet Festival faculties; he has performed at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, ABA, CBDNA, WASBE, Texas and Missouri Music Educators Associations conventions, Russian Trumpet Guild and the International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Prior to joining the University of Missouri faculty, Iskander Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is an Artist-Clinician for Edwards Trumpets.

Andrew Cheetham

Andrew Cheetham is the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Eastern Illinois University. A native of Columbia, MO, Andrew attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor's in Music Education, Master's in Trumpet Performance, and Performer's Certificate. Andrew also holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Certificate of Excellence in Performance, the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, and a minor in Musicology. As a classical and jazz trumpeter as well as group leader, Andrew has performed in and conducted various ensembles across the United States and in Europe.Andrew has experience as a band director in the Austin, TX public schools and has taught trumpet, led jazz ensembles and small groups, and taught various academic courses at all levels for nearly twenty years. Andrew is a former Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Jazz at Oklahoma State University, and has taught at Nazareth College, The University of Rochester, and the University of Texas. Most recently, Andrew was a trumpeter and ensemble leader in the United States Army, where he was often a featured trumpet soloist, performed in countless ceremonies, concerts and conventions all over the country, and received two Army Achievement medals for his work.

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest. His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet. Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others. Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble.

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville. In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants. Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players. As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings. These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes. Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

Steve Leisring

Steve Leisring , Associate Professor of Trumpet, came to KU in 2003 after performing for 14 seasons with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Canary Islands, Spain. As a member of the orchestra, he can be heard on more than 35 commercial CD's on labels such as Deutche-Gramophone, Decca, and Auvidis-Valois. He has performed in major halls in Europe including London, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Segovia, Zaragoza, Valencia, etc. Festival performances included the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg festivals in Germany; as well as those in Santander, Granada, San Sebastian, and the Canary Islands and he has been heard on Radio and TV broadcasts of live concerts and recordings by the Tenerife Symphony that have been programmed throughout the world on networks such as NPR, BBC, NDR(Germany), ABC(Australia), and RNE(Spain).

As a professional trumpeter, Prof. Leisring has performed with more than 100 world-class soloists and conductors, including vocalists Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland, Barbara Hendricks, Frederica Von Stade, Arlene Auger; Alfredo Kraus and Brigitte Fassbaender; violinists Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz, Silvia Marcovici, Frank Peter Zimmerman; pianists Murray Perahia, Phillippe Entremont, Bela Davidovich, Alicia de Larrocha, Ivo Pogorelich, Krystian Zimerman, Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleischer; and conductors Neemi Yarvi, Raymond Leppard, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Yoel Levi, Gerard Schwarz, Osmo Vanska, Clas Peter Flor, and Maxim Shostakovich to name a few.

Outside of the classical music realm, Professor Leisring has performed with the likes of Jazz Legend Phil Woods, Gary Foster, Steve Houghton, and show vocalists Michael Feinstein and Englebert Humperdinct. While in Spain, he was an active studio/session musician and he served as musical director/soloist of the "Swing Big Band of the Canary Islands," an 18-piece big-band.

Steve Leisring has been a featured Soloist and Principal Trumpet on two World-Premiere Recordings by Spanish composer, Enrique Guimera. Other orchestral performances include concerts with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Sweden); Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra Durango/Pagaso Springs, CO. 2001-2007.

Former students of Prof. Leisring have gone on to perform with the New York Philharmonic as well as several professional orchestras in Spain; and have been selected for positions in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, European Youth Orchestra, World Youth Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Spanish National Youth Orchestra and the Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra. Trumpet ensembles from KU have been named Finalists at the National Trumpet Competition in two out of two appearances in 2006,2007.

Steve has given master classes at the Beijing Central Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, and Kunming Arts Academy in China; in Helsinki, Finland; the Puerto Rico Conservatory in San Juan; as well as the Hartt College of Music and the Universities of Illinois, Oregon, Connecticut, Texas/Arlington and North Texas in the U.S. He is on the Advisory Board of the National Trumpet Competition and was invited to adjudicate the First Asian-Pacific Trumpet Competition in Guangzhou, China in 2008.

Since coming to KU, he has been invited to China four times, performing at the First International Trumpet Conference at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 2006, and at China's Inaugural China ITG Conference in 2008. He also led a successful tour of China with the KU Trumpet Ensemble in 2008. In 2006 and 2008, he was invited to be a featured artist at the International Trumpet Days in Riga, Latvia.

As a soloist and recitalist, Professor Leisring has performed in Europe, Asia, Central America and the US, and maintains an active schedule as Principal Trumpet of the Kansas Brass Quintet, Ensemble in Residence at the University of Kansas.

While in Spain, Steve Leisring played and coached in Spain's premier National Baseball League, and has a keen interest in the connection between peak performance in music and in sports. He has written pedagogical articles published by the International Trumpet Guild Journal and the International Musician Magazine.

Professor Leisring is a fluent Spanish speaker and holds degrees in Performance and Education from the University of North Texas and the Mannes College of Music in New York. Former teachers include Vincent Penzarella of the NY Philharmonic, Rick Giangiulio and Bert Truax, formerly of the Dallas Symphony; Don Jacoby, as well as Keith Johnson and Leonard Candelaria at the University of North Texas.

William Richardson

Dr. William Richardson serves as Associate Professor of Music at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where he teaches Applied Trumpet, Jazz Appreciation, and directs the Northwest Jazz Ensemble.  A Fulbright Scholar, he served as Visiting Professor of Trumpet at the Jazeps Vitols Latvian Academy of Music during the spring, 2010, semester. He holds music degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Florida State University, and Central Missouri State University.

Richardson is a member of the St. Joseph Symphony, the Maguire Street Brass Quintet, and the Northwest Bell Tower Brass. A Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist, he has performed at numerous International Trumpet Guild Conventions, the 2006 National Trumpet Competition, the 2008 Phi Beta National Convention, and the 2010 Riga (Latvia) International Brass Symposium.  He has published articles in the Journal of the International Trumpet Guild and the I.T.G. Junior newsletter. 

Third Street Brass

The Third Street Brass was formed in the fall of 2009 by four sophomores and one freshman, and has quickly integrated itself into the musical world. Their first performance took place in the fall of 2009 and was a success. Since then, The Third Street Brass has performed numerous recitals, including some in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, and across the state of Indiana. Their "Texas Tour," during the summer of 2010, took them to Plano, Dallas, Austin, and Georgetown, where they performed for over 20 elementary, middle, and high school band classes and gave several full recitals. In addition, after only being together for a few months, The Third Street Brass Quintet was selected as runners up for the Aspen Music School Fellowship last summer. The Third Street Brass feels very grateful for being named this year's fellowship brass quintet at the Aspen Music Festival, and all the opportunities it has been a part of.

Keith Winking

Keith Winking is a professor at Texas State University, where he teaches trumpet, directs the Texas State Jazz Orchestra, and is a member of the SouthWest BrassWorks. Dr. Winking received his undergraduate degree in Music Education from Quincy University, his M.M. in Trumpet Performance from Texas State, and his D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His teachers have included Raymond Crisara, Vince Cichowicz, Leon Rapier and Don "Jake" Jacoby. He has served as a visiting lecturer to scores of universities and conservatories, including the Crane School of Music and the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories.
Dr. Winking has presented solo and ensemble concerts and clinics throughout the United States, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Switzerland and Russia. He is a freelance trumpet player, performing with many local and national groups, including the Austin Symphony, the Austin Jazz Orchestra, James Brown, the Manhattan Transfer, and the Austin Sinfonietta. He has extensive recording experience and has recorded national jingles for McDonalds and American Express. He has also taped numerous TV shows, including PBS's "Lonesome Pines," TNN's "Texas Connection," PBS's "Austin City Limits" and a taping for the BBC entitled "Rhythms of the World." He has presented papers at the International Trumpet and New York Brass Conferences and also published articles in The International Trumpet Guild Journal and the International Jazz Educators Journal. Dr. Winking is voting member of the National Association of the Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy's) and a clinician for the Selmer Company.

 2010 Festival Poster (PDF)

Featured Guest Artists

Billy Hunter Jr.

A native of Austin, Texas, Billy Hunter is currently Principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Assistant Principal trumpet of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Before this he was Co-Principal with the New World Symphony and Spoleto Festival Italy orchestras and has performed as guest Principal with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in Germany, Malaysian Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. Other orchestras he has performed with are the New York Philharmonic, Boston, Baltimore and Dallas Symphonies. As a chamber musician and soloist Mr. Hunter has performed with several ensembles  nationwide including the American Brass Quintet, the MET Chamber Ensemble, Grant Park Orchestra, New World Symphony, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, and  the  University of Texas Wind Ensemble to name a few. Some festivals he has attended are Tanglewood Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Martha's Vineyard Music Festival and National Repertory Orchestra. His honors and awards include first prize in the Kingsville International Competition Brass and Non-string divisions, second prize in the National Trumpet Competition, winner of the Roger Voisin Trumpet award as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, and most recently the recipient of the University of Texas Exes Alumni Award for outstanding achievement. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the Juilliard School, his teachers are former principal of the MET Mark Gould, principal of the NYC Ballet and ABQ Raymond Mase, former member of the MET and NBC Symphony Raymond Crisara and former horn player of the Boston Symphony Harry Shapiro.

John Sneider

Trumpeter John Sneider resides in New York City where he maintains an active career as a performer, studio musician, and composer of music for television and radio commercials. John has performed with Max Roach, Curtis Fuller, The Mingus Big Band, Andy Bey, The Frank Foster Big Band, Larry Goldings and Brad Mehldau. In 1998 John was the winner of the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition. John currently serves as a professor of Jazz at the New School for Social Research / Mannes School of Music. His debut disc, "Panorama," was released in 2000 on Double-Time Records.

Watch John Sneider playing with Curtis Stigers

Guest Artists

Iskander Ahkmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri, holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He has been a Co-Principal Trumpet with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra for several seasons.

Together with his wife, pianist Natalia Bolshakova, Dr. Akhmadullin has given recitals and master classes in the United States, Russia, and Germany. Active as both a recitalist and chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of works from the Russian trumpet repertoire. Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition Faculty and performed as a soloist and in groups at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, the Russian Trumpet Guild Conferences, Texas Music Educators Association, ABA, CBDNA, and WASBE conventions, and the International Trumpet Guild conferences.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Missouri, Professor Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He resides in Columbia with his wife and 21-month old daughter Anna Sophia.

Tito Carrillo

Tito Carrillo is one of the finest trumpeters to emerge from Chicago’s rich jazz trumpet legacy. He is an accomplished trumpeter, educator, bandleader, and composer, and since 1996 he has been a fixture in the Chicago jazz and latin music scenes.

A native of Austin, Texas, the list of artists he has performed, recorded, and toured with is as varied and impressive as his skill set. He has worked with Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, John Moulder, Patricia Barber, Ryan Cohan, and Dana Hall; big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra (Frank Tiberi, director), the Chicago Jazz Ensemble (Bill Russo and Jon Faddis, directors), the Chicago Jazz Orchestra (Jeff Lindberg, director), and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker, director); jazz greats such as drummer Louis Hayes, trumpeter Jon Faddis, and saxophonist Vincent Herring; Salsa legends such as Andy Montañez, Tony Vega, and Cheo Feliciano; latin jazz giants Tito Puente and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins. Recent performances include engagements with Grammy-nominated Cuban flute virtuoso Orlando “Maraca” Valle, Brazilian trumpet great Claudio Roditi, vocalist/Blue Note recording artist Jackie Allen, and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble.

Carrillo has played some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and London’s Royal Festival Hall. His work has been heard at international jazz festivals in Chicago, Telluride, Montreaux (Switzerland), the Netherlands, and Finland. He has appeared on over 20 CD recordings in his 14-year career, as well as the concert DVD “Quincy Jones: Live at Montreux 1996”.

Tito Carrillo is also active in jazz education, and was appointed as full-time jazz trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Prior to his appointment at Illinois, he served on the faculty at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as at Northwestern University. He also has helped to spread jazz awareness to Chicago’s inner city schools through the Ravinia Jazz-in-the-Schools outreach program. He presently continues an active career as a guest artist/clinician at secondary and collegiate jazz programs across the nation.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over two dozen other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, Aries, and the faculty jazz combo, the Climb. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently the host and a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Mendez Brass Institute, featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Aries Brass Quintet and Conjunto Colores. Alan is in the midst of his first solo CD recording project which will feature the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research will be utilized in a forthcoming documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Al enjoys sharing time with his wonderful daughter Kyrié and exploring life, travel and photography with his wife Jennifer.

Steve Leisring

Steve Leisring , Associate Professor of Trumpet, came to KU in 2003 after performing for 14 seasons with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Canary Islands, Spain. As a member of the orchestra, he can be heard on more than 35 commercial CD's on labels such as Deutche-Gramophone, Decca, and Auvidis-Valois. He has performed in major halls in Europe including London, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Segovia, Zaragoza, Valencia, etc. Festival performances included the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg festivals in Germany; as well as those in Santander, Granada, San Sebastian, and the Canary Islands and he has been heard on Radio and TV broadcasts of live concerts and recordings by the Tenerife Symphony that have been programmed throughout the world on networks such as NPR, BBC, NDR(Germany), ABC(Australia), and RNE(Spain).

As a professional trumpeter, Prof. Leisring has performed with more than 100 world-class soloists and conductors, including vocalists Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland, Barbara Hendricks, Frederica Von Stade, Arlene Auger; Alfredo Kraus and Brigitte Fassbaender; violinists Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz, Silvia Marcovici, Frank Peter Zimmerman; pianists Murray Perahia, Phillippe Entremont, Bela Davidovich, Alicia de Larrocha, Ivo Pogorelich, Krystian Zimerman, Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleischer; and conductors Neemi Yarvi, Raymond Leppard, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Yoel Levi, Gerard Schwarz, Osmo Vanska, Clas Peter Flor, and Maxim Shostakovich to name a few.

Outside of the classical music realm, Professor Leisring has performed with the likes of Jazz Legend Phil Woods, Gary Foster, Steve Houghton, and show vocalists Michael Feinstein and Englebert Humperdinct. While in Spain, he was an active studio/session musician and he served as musical director/soloist of the "Swing Big Band of the Canary Islands," an 18-piece big-band.

Steve Leisring has been a featured Soloist and Principal Trumpet on two World-Premiere Recordings by Spanish composer, Enrique Guimera. Other orchestral performances include concerts with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Sweden); Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra Durango/Pagaso Springs, CO. 2001-2007.

Former students of Prof. Leisring have gone on to perform with the New York Philharmonic as well as several professional orchestras in Spain; and have been selected for positions in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, European Youth Orchestra, World Youth Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Spanish National Youth Orchestra and the Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra. Trumpet ensembles from KU have been named Finalists at the National Trumpet Competition in two out of two appearances in 2006,2007.

Steve has given master classes at the Beijing Central Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, and Kunming Arts Academy in China; in Helsinki, Finland; the Puerto Rico Conservatory in San Juan; as well as the Hartt College of Music and the Universities of Illinois, Oregon, Connecticut, Texas/Arlington and North Texas in the U.S. He is on the Advisory Board of the National Trumpet Competition and was invited to adjudicate the First Asian-Pacific Trumpet Competition in Guangzhou, China in 2008.

Since coming to KU, he has been invited to China four times, performing at the First International Trumpet Conference at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 2006, and at China's Inaugural China ITG Conference in 2008. He also led a successful tour of China with the KU Trumpet Ensemble in 2008. In 2006 and 2008, he was invited to be a featured artist at the International Trumpet Days in Riga, Latvia.

As a soloist and recitalist, Professor Leisring has performed in Europe, Asia, Central America and the US, and maintains an active schedule as Principal Trumpet of the Kansas Brass Quintet, Ensemble in Residence at the University of Kansas.

While in Spain, Steve Leisring played and coached in Spain's premier National Baseball League, and has a keen interest in the connection between peak performance in music and in sports. He has written pedagogical articles published by the International Trumpet Guild Journal and the International Musician Magazine.

Professor Leisring is a fluent Spanish speaker and holds degrees in Performance and Education from the University of North Texas and the Mannes College of Music in New York. Former teachers include Vincent Penzarella of the NY Philharmonic, Rick Giangiulio and Bert Truax, formerly of the Dallas Symphony; Don Jacoby, as well as Keith Johnson and Leonard Candelaria at the University of North Texas.

Joel Treybig

Joel Treybig is Associate Professor of Music in the Belmont University School of Music where he works with undergraduate and graduate trumpet students, performs with the Belmont Brass Quintet, directs brass ensembles, and serves as Instrumental Coordinator. He was a member of the faculties of Bowling Green State University (Ohio) and the University of Southern Mississippi before joining the Belmont faculty in 2005.

He has performed with symphony orchestras in Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee (most recently with the Chattanooga Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Nashville Opera, as well as on valveless baroque trumpet with Music City Baroque) and Texas, and with numerous pit orchestras and chamber groups. He is an active solo recitalist and clinician, and has performed as a guest artist in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, including diverse venues such as Spivey Hall, Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts, the Vicksburg Chamber Music Festival, the Victoria Bach Festival, and the New Texas and Bowling Green New Music Festivals. He performs frequently in and around Nashville as a freelance performer and regularly with the Belmont Brass Quintet. His performances of contemporary music have earned the praise of such American composers as John Cheetham, Eric Ewazen, Stanley Friedman, Stephen Michael Gryc, Karel Husa, Anthony Plog, Joan Tower, and Luigi Zaninelli. 

Treybig received his Doctor of Musical Arts in performance from the University of Texas at Austin, his Master of Music in performance from the University of Akron and his Bachelor of Music Education from Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and has also completed postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. His primary teachers include Raymond Crisara (NBC Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), James Darling (Cleveland Orchestra), Murray Greig (English Northern Philharmonia, Orfeo Trumpet Consort), Scott Johnston (Akron Symphony, Canton Symphony, Paragon Brass Quintet) and Mary Squire (Ohio Chamber Orchestra)

He is an active member of the International Trumpet Guild and the College Music Society, and his articles and music reviews have been published in the International Trumpet Guild Journal. His published arrangements for brass ensembles include J.B. Arban's Carnival of Venice, F.J. Haydn's Concerto in E-flat, Walter Dignam's virtuosic theme and variations, Hope Told a Flattering Tale, Otto Nicolai's overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Michael Praetorius's In dulci jubilo.

Featured Guest Artists

Billy Hunter Jr.

A native of Austin, Texas, Billy Hunter is currently Principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and Assistant Principal trumpet of the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago. Before this he was Co-Principal with the New World Symphony and Spoleto Festival Italy orchestras and has performed as guest Principal with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony in Germany, Malaysian Philharmonic in Kuala Lumpur and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in South Carolina. Other orchestras he has performed with are the New York Philharmonic, Boston, Baltimore and Dallas Symphonies. As a chamber musician and soloist Mr. Hunter has performed with several ensembles  nationwide including the American Brass Quintet, the MET Chamber Ensemble, Grant Park Orchestra, New World Symphony, University of Texas Symphony Orchestra, Prometheus Chamber Orchestra, and  the  University of Texas Wind Ensemble to name a few. Some festivals he has attended are Tanglewood Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Martha's Vineyard Music Festival and National Repertory Orchestra. His honors and awards include first prize in the Kingsville International Competition Brass and Non-string divisions, second prize in the National Trumpet Competition, winner of the Roger Voisin Trumpet award as a fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, and most recently the recipient of the University of Texas Exes Alumni Award for outstanding achievement. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the Juilliard School, his teachers are former principal of the MET Mark Gould, principal of the NYC Ballet and ABQ Raymond Mase, former member of the MET and NBC Symphony Raymond Crisara and former horn player of the Boston Symphony Harry Shapiro.

John Sneider

Trumpeter John Sneider resides in New York City where he maintains an active career as a performer, studio musician, and composer of music for television and radio commercials. John has performed with Max Roach, Curtis Fuller, The Mingus Big Band, Andy Bey, The Frank Foster Big Band, Larry Goldings and Brad Mehldau. In 1998 John was the winner of the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition. John currently serves as a professor of Jazz at the New School for Social Research / Mannes School of Music. His debut disc, "Panorama," was released in 2000 on Double-Time Records.

Guest Artists

Iskander Ahkmadullin

Iskander Akhmadullin, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Missouri, holds degrees from the Kazan Music College, the Moscow State Conservatory, and the University of North Texas. His major teachers were Abbas Slashkin, Vadim Novikov, Leonard Candelaria, and Keith Johnson.

Dr. Akhmadullin has performed in several professional orchestras in Russia and the United States and can be heard on the Marco Polo, Naxos, Hugo, Klavier, and Delos labels. He has been a Co-Principal Trumpet with the Missouri Symphony Orchestra for several seasons.

Together with his wife, pianist Natalia Bolshakova, Dr. Akhmadullin has given recitals and master classes in the United States, Russia, and Germany. Active as both a recitalist and chamber musician, he has premiered a number of solo and chamber works and is continuously introducing new trumpet pieces by American composers to Russian audiences, while also presenting the American premieres of works from the Russian trumpet repertoire. Mr. Akhmadullin was among the first Russian trumpet players to perform on the baroque trumpet.

Professor Akhmadullin has been a member of the National Trumpet Competition Faculty and performed as a soloist and in groups at numerous festivals and conferences, including the Moscow Autumn Festivals, the Russian Trumpet Guild Conferences, Texas Music Educators Association, ABA, CBDNA, and WASBE conventions, and the International Trumpet Guild conferences.

Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Missouri, Professor Akhmadullin taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He resides in Columbia with his wife and 21-month old daughter Anna Sophia.

David Cooper

David Cooper is widely recognized as one of the most versatile trumpets players in the Midwest.  His performing affiliations include the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the New Breed Jazz Quintet, The Art Blakey Tribute Band, and The Tim Whalen Nonet.  Performances have been with such renowned artists as; Doc Severinsen, Adolph Herseth, Kurt Elling, Wayne Newton, Lynn Harrell, Orbert Davis, Ben Sidran, Andre Watts, Bob Mintzer, Joe Williams, Ed Shaunessy, Clyde Stubblefield, Bobby McFerrin, Armen Donelian, Lew Soloff, Bobby Shew, Bob Newhart, Marie Osmond, Robert Goulet, among others.  Ensemble affiliations have included the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the Milwaukee, Madison, Canton and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, The Dallas Brass, Walt Disney World, and the Aspen Jazz Ensemble. 

As an educator, Dr. Cooper is the professor of trumpet and jazz studies at the University of Wisconsin - Platteville.  In 2005, Dr. Cooper hosted a trumpet festival that attracted over 450 participants.  Among the festival activities was a recital that featured himself with principal guests Adolph Herseth, Doc Severinsen, Charles Lazarus, members of the Minnesota Orchestra trumpet section among other wonderful players.  As a clinician, he has lectured and performed at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, New York Brass Conference, and is a very active soloist/clinician with regional schools, jazz festivals and community ensembles.

As a published author, his website, allthingstrumpet.com produces and sells a number of his music publications and recordings.  These publications include an adaptation of the Bach cello suites for trumpet, numerous jazz transcription books, two book/CDs of arias arranged and adapted for Mezzo-Soprano and Trumpet, Bartók's 44 duets transcribed and edited for two trumpets and most recently, Telemann's Canonic Sonatas arranged and recorded for two trumpets.  Publishing affiliations include, Tom Harrell, Hal Leonard Corp., Chas. Colin Publishing, Roger Dean Publications and the Lorenz Corp.

David is also in demand as a composer and arranger with numerous jazz, rock and commercial ensembles, large and small.  His most recent composing/arranging efforts are directed toward his university jazz ensemble, the No Net, Nonet and the New Breed Quintet.  He has composed and sequenced soundtracks for theater, television, radio and corporate purposes.  Affiliations include UW-La Crosse Theater Department, Madison Theatre Guild, The Heibing Advertising Group, John Roach Projects, Knupp & Watson, Normco Productions, Newell Corporation, and the Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Dr. Cooper received his Bachelor of Music from Lawrence Conservatory of Music in Appleton, WI, his Master of Music from the University of Akron in Ohio, and his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  David is endorsed by Eclipse Trumpets of UK and plays Eclipse exclusively.

Alan Hood

Trumpeter Alan Hood hails from the small upstate New York town of Pumpkin Hook and has been performing music for over 30 years. Mr. Hood toured the world with the Phil Collins Big Band, appearing at the Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals and New York City's prestigious Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He is among featured soloists on the band's live compact disc recording "A Hot Night in Paris," on the Atlantic jazz label and appears on well over two dozen other jazz, commercial and classical recordings. Appearing with the orchestras of Woody Herman, Glenn Miller and Harry James, and performing on stage with Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen, Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer, Arturo Sandoval, the Richie Cole Alto Madness Orchestra, the Summit Brass, Jon Faddis, Conte Candoli, Clark Terry, Curtis Fuller and Wynton Marsalis, to name just a few, has rewarded Alan with an array of irreplaceable memories and a well spring of professional experience.

 Dividing his career between performing and teaching full time at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music as Associate Professor of Trumpet, Al directs the Lamont Jazz Ensemble and performs extensively with Lamont's artist-in-residence ensembles, the faculty brass quintet, Aries, and the faculty jazz combo, the Climb. Al hosted the highly acclaimed 2004 International Trumpet Guild conference at the Lamont School of Music and is currently the host and a faculty member of the annual esteemed Rafael Méndez Brass Institute, featuring the world-renown Summit Brass. As a freelance trumpeter he continuously performs and records in and beyond the Colorado region with the Denver Brass, the Ken Walker Jazz Sextet, the Aries Brass Quintet and Conjunto Colores. Alan is in the midst of his first solo CD recording project which will feature the arranging talents of Dave Hanson in various settings for trumpet, rhythm section, strings, sax, flute, oboe and French horn.

Prior to his 1999 appointment with the University of Denver, Alan taught jazz trumpet and musicology at the University of Miami while pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in jazz performance. Mr. Hood holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Music degree from Northern Illinois University, and has taught music at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Richmond in Virginia. His trumpet mentors include Vince DiMartino, Ron Modell, Ray Crisara, Howard Rowe and the late Gil Johnson. As a clinician, Al has enjoyed working and performing with students from such places as the University of Minnesota, Western Michigan University, Indiana University, Pittsburg (KS) State University, East Tennessee State University, Wichita State University, Centre College, Cumberland College, University of Northern Colorado and Nagoya University of the Arts in Japan, to name a few. He has performed and has made presentations at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Association of Jazz Educators conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the Colorado Music Educators Association conference and at the International Association of Jazz Record Collectors conference. He has also served as a judge for the National Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild, the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Competition and at many Colorado and national jazz festivals.

A leading authority on the life and work of jazz trumpet legend, Clifford Brown, his doctoral research topic, Al has to his credit several published articles on Brown and has been invited to present his findings at international conferences. Dr. Nick Catalano's recent biography of Clifford Brown, published by Oxford University Press, showcases Al Hood's major contributions as chief research consultant and primary interviewer. His research will be utilized in a forthcoming documentary on Brown and he has been consulted by Jazz at Lincoln Center's Education Department for assistance with their new Brown exhibit that is now a part of the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

Al enjoys sharing time with his wonderful daughter Kyrié and exploring life, travel and photography with his wife Jennifer.

Steve Leisring

Steve Leisring , Associate Professor of Trumpet, came to KU in 2003 after performing for 14 seasons with the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra, Canary Islands, Spain. As a member of the orchestra, he can be heard on more than 35 commercial CD's on labels such as Deutche-Gramophone, Decca, and Auvidis-Valois. He has performed in major halls in Europe including London, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Segovia, Zaragoza, Valencia, etc. Festival performances included the Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg festivals in Germany; as well as those in Santander, Granada, San Sebastian, and the Canary Islands and he has been heard on Radio and TV broadcasts of live concerts and recordings by the Tenerife Symphony that have been programmed throughout the world on networks such as NPR, BBC, NDR(Germany), ABC(Australia), and RNE(Spain).

As a professional trumpeter, Prof. Leisring has performed with more than 100 world-class soloists and conductors, including vocalists Placido Domingo, Joan Sutherland, Barbara Hendricks, Frederica Von Stade, Arlene Auger; Alfredo Kraus and Brigitte Fassbaender; violinists Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Gil Shaham, Shlomo Mintz, Silvia Marcovici, Frank Peter Zimmerman; pianists Murray Perahia, Phillippe Entremont, Bela Davidovich, Alicia de Larrocha, Ivo Pogorelich, Krystian Zimerman, Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleischer; and conductors Neemi Yarvi, Raymond Leppard, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Yoel Levi, Gerard Schwarz, Osmo Vanska, Clas Peter Flor, and Maxim Shostakovich to name a few.

Outside of the classical music realm, Professor Leisring has performed with the likes of Jazz Legend Phil Woods, Gary Foster, Steve Houghton, and show vocalists Michael Feinstein and Englebert Humperdinct. While in Spain, he was an active studio/session musician and he served as musical director/soloist of the "Swing Big Band of the Canary Islands," an 18-piece big-band.

Steve Leisring has been a featured Soloist and Principal Trumpet on two World-Premiere Recordings by Spanish composer, Enrique Guimera. Other orchestral performances include concerts with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Sweden); Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Gran Canaria Philharmonic, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, and was a member of the Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra Durango/Pagaso Springs, CO. 2001-2007.

Former students of Prof. Leisring have gone on to perform with the New York Philharmonic as well as several professional orchestras in Spain; and have been selected for positions in the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, European Youth Orchestra, World Youth Orchestra, Pacific Music Festival, Spanish National Youth Orchestra and the Tanglewood Young Artists Orchestra. Trumpet ensembles from KU have been named Finalists at the National Trumpet Competition in two out of two appearances in 2006,2007.

Steve has given master classes at the Beijing Central Conservatory, Sichuan Conservatory, and Kunming Arts Academy in China; in Helsinki, Finland; the Puerto Rico Conservatory in San Juan; as well as the Hartt College of Music and the Universities of Illinois, Oregon, Connecticut, Texas/Arlington and North Texas in the U.S. He is on the Advisory Board of the National Trumpet Competition and was invited to adjudicate the First Asian-Pacific Trumpet Competition in Guangzhou, China in 2008.

Since coming to KU, he has been invited to China four times, performing at the First International Trumpet Conference at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 2006, and at China's Inaugural China ITG Conference in 2008. He also led a successful tour of China with the KU Trumpet Ensemble in 2008. In 2006 and 2008, he was invited to be a featured artist at the International Trumpet Days in Riga, Latvia.

As a soloist and recitalist, Professor Leisring has performed in Europe, Asia, Central America and the US, and maintains an active schedule as Principal Trumpet of the Kansas Brass Quintet, Ensemble in Residence at the University of Kansas.

While in Spain, Steve Leisring played and coached in Spain's premier National Baseball League, and has a keen interest in the connection between peak performance in music and in sports. He has written pedagogical articles published by the International Trumpet Guild Journal and the International Musician Magazine.

Professor Leisring is a fluent Spanish speaker and holds degrees in Performance and Education from the University of North Texas and the Mannes College of Music in New York. Former teachers include Vincent Penzarella of the NY Philharmonic, Rick Giangiulio and Bert Truax, formerly of the Dallas Symphony; Don Jacoby, as well as Keith Johnson and Leonard Candelaria at the University of North Texas.