UK Trumpets Take Second at Nationals, Trombones Play D.C.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 4, 2016) — The University of Kentucky Trumpet Studio recently took second prize at the 2016 National Trumpet Competition, the world's largest instrumental music competition. Later that week in Washington, D.C., it was the UK Trombone Choir taking a national stage, where they were selected to perform at the American Trombone Workshop. 

To be invited to the National Trumpet Competition, trumpet soloists and ensembles from all over the country submit recordings that are screened by a panel of trumpet professionals from around the country. Those who pass this prescreening are invited to the live rounds of competition. Typically 30-40 trumpet ensembles are invited to compete in the live rounds, held this year March 10-12, at Columbus State University in Georgia. Of these ensembles, only three were invited to compete in the final round of performance.

The UK Trumpet Ensemble participated in the Getzen Trumpet Small Ensemble Division, and UK was the only public university invited into the final round. Performing UK faculty member Jason Dovel's arrangement of Anthony Plog's "Four Sketches," the UK ensemble took second, with first and third prizes going to private conservatories (Curtis Institute and the Eastman School of Music, respectively).

"This was an extraordinary accomplishment achieved in a highly competitive field of students from around the country," said Dovel, assistant professor of trumpet at UK School of Music.

In addition to the ensemble's success, UK trumpet students also competed in the solo divisions. UK freshman Matthew Coile, a music and chemical engineering major from Gaithersburg, Maryland, and junior Caden Holmes, a music performance major from Madisonville, Kentucky, competed in the undergraduate division. UK doctoral student Steve Siegel, from Yonkers, New York, and UK alumni Jared Wallis, a 2015 music performance graduate from Talala, Oklahoma, and Eric Millard, 2013 music performance graduate from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, competed in the graduate solo division. Millard, who is now attending graduate school at Florida State University, ultimately took third prize in the graduate solo division.

UK has a long history of excellence in trumpet, twice hosting the International Trumpet Guild Conference in 1982 and 1998. The UK Trumpet Ensemble has taken first prize at the National Trumpet Competition (2004) and has also performed at the 2009 International Trumpet Guild Conference. UK graduate student Phillip Chase Hawkins took first prize in the National Trumpet Competition's Graduate Solo Division in 2012. The studio performs under the direction of Dovel, who joined UK School of Music in 2013 after establishing a large trumpet program in Oklahoma at Northeastern State University.

This was the 25th anniversary of the National Trumpet Competition, which was established by Denny Eldebrock, an adjunct faculty member at George Mason University.

On March 12, the UK Trombone Choir played the American Trombone Workshop, presented by the U.S. Army Band, in Washington, D.C. The workshop is the premiere national convention for the instrument. 

[youtube]

Video of the livestream of all the performances at the 2016 American Trombone Workshop. Viewers interested in UK's concert only, should begin at 3:35:00.

"It is a tremendous honor to be selected to perform at this national event. The group shared the main stage with trombone ensembles from the Juilliard School and Northwestern University," said Bradley Kerns, assistant professor of trombone at UK School of Music.

The concert featured several UK student soloists alongside Douglas Rosenthal, assistant principal trombonist of the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, and Tim Smith, second trombone with the Buffalo Philharmonic, on a world premiere of a new composition by Rob Deemer, 2004 graduate Clint Woltering of the U.S. Naval Academy Band, and the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Rhythm Section.

The UK Trombone Choir meets as a chamber ensemble in both the fall and spring semesters. The ensemble explores all genres and styles of music from baroque to jazz and is comprised of music majors, as well as students from other colleges at UK. Recent invitations and performances for the choir include the 2013 Eastern Trombone Workshop, the 2013 and 2014 International Trombone Festival, the 2014 Kentucky Music Educators Conference, the 2016 American Trombone Workshop, and the 2016 Great American Brass Band Festival. The ensemble regularly hosts world class guest soloists, including Ben van Dijk (Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra), Joseph Alessi (New York Philharmonic), Matt Neiss (U.S. Army Blues), Peter Ellefson (Northwestern University), Michael Davis (Rolling Stones) and UK's own Cynthia Lawrence.

The UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, composition, and theory and music history.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu