UK to Host National Trumpet Competition; 19 Wildcats to Compete
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 27, 2019) — The University of Kentucky School of Music will host the prestigious National Trumpet Competition (NTC) March 14-16, 2019, in Lexington. As part of the competition, more than 700 of the country’s best trumpeters from middle to graduate school age will descend on the Bluegrass.
Founded in 1991 by Dennis Edelbrock, NTC is the world's largest music competition. It has the largest slate of judges (60 per year) as well as the largest number of competitors of any music competition in the world. This year's event is organized and hosted by Jason Dovel, assistant professor in the UK School of Music. Dovel has served as artist/faculty for the National Trumpet Competition since 2014.
In 2019, more than 700 students from all around the United States will travel to Lexington to compete in seven divisions: Middle School, High School, College, Graduate, Jazz, High School Trumpet Ensemble, and Collegiate Trumpet Ensemble. This year, a record 72 trumpet ensembles from around the United States will compete. The University of Kentucky itself is sending three different trumpet ensembles to the competition, the most from any school.
To be accepted to compete at NTC, all applicants must submit a live, unedited YouTube video of the performance of their repertoire.
This year, 19 UK trumpet students were accepted:
- Music performance junior Abby Temple (Newton, North Carolina) and music performance sophomore Benjamin Siff (Hampton, Virginia) were accepted in the College solo division.
- Music performance sophomore David Vest (Lexington) was accepted in the Jazz division.
- Nineteen players for three trumpet ensembles were accepted: Dustin Voss, Sam Lewis, Jessi Lambert, Aaron Orr, Alex McGan, Keegan Elvidge and Sean Dunn will compete as the "NTC Trumpet Septet - Blue"; Tyler Rosenkrantz, David Vest, Clint Linkmeyer, Ethan Ferguson, Ben Siff, Caleb Purdue and Drew Reynolds will compete as the "NTC Trumpet Septet - White"; and Sam Oliveri, Abby Temple, Taylor Gustad, Bailey Goff and David Seder will compete as the "NTC Trumpet Quintet."
Most of the competition events will be held in the Singletary Center for the Arts, with other events occurring in the Fine Arts Building, Niles Gallery in the Lucille C. Little Fine Arts Library and Learning Center, and Gatton Student Center.
In addition to competitions, several master classes and educational events will be held. Guest clinicians will include the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra trumpet section, Clay Jenkins (Eastman School of Music), Vince DiMartino (international soloist and former UK faculty member), Stephen Campbell (Ball State University), Ashley Hall (North Carolina Brass Band) and others.
In addition, NTC will also present several exciting concerts that are open to the public. On Friday, March 15, the DiMartino-Osland Jazz Orchestra will present a concert with guest artists 8:30 p.m., in the Singletary Center Concert Hall. On Saturday, March 16, the Lexington Brass Band will present a concert at 2 p.m., also in the Concert Hall.
Other fringe concerts and clinics will be scheduled as well. The full NTC schedule will be available at http://nationaltrumpetcomp.org.
A charitable organization, NTC has raised over $1.5 million in its 28-year history to help carry out its mission of inspiring the next generation. It has the largest slate of judges, as well as the largest number of competitors of any music competition in the world. Thirteen thousand students representing 46 states, have performed at NTC in “live” rounds and have benefited from its educational and artistic opportunities.
For more information on the 2019 NTC Competition, contact Jason Dovel at Jason.Dovel@uky.edu or 859-257-7177.