October 2022 Winner: Claire Yungbluth
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- Published: Thursday, 05 January 2023 12:10
- Written by Anne K. McNamara
This issue’s featured young artist award winner is Claire Yungbluth, an eighteen-year-old trumpet player who has recently graduated from Campbell County High School in the greater Cincinnati and northern Kentucky area. In addition to performing in her high school’s wind ensemble, Claire performed in the Cincinnati Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO) for three years. As a sophomore she performed in the Concert Orchestra and during her junior and senior years she played principal trumpet in the top Philharmonic orchestra. Her interests in orchestral trumpet began in her freshman year of high school when she performed in the Northern Kentucky University’s Youth Symphony Orchestra.
In 2021, Claire was selected for both the Kentucky Governor’s School for the Arts and the Governor’s Scholar Program (GSP). She decided to attend GSP at the Morehead campus and was a member of the music cohort. During her senior year of high school, Claire also made the Kentucky All State Concert Band.
While Claire started on trumpet in the 6th grade, her musical studies began at age three when she attended Northern Kentucky University’s Xylo-Zoo and followed with piano lessons for most of elementary school. Her trumpet instructors included Chris Kiradjieff of the Cincinnati Symphony and Jenna Veverka. Speaking of Claire, Ms. Veverka says, “Claire is passionate about music, progressing, and reaching her fullest potential. Her consistent progress is evidence of her extremely strong work ethic and determination. She is responsible, bright, reliable, and an individual of upstanding character and integrity.” Claire cites her studies with Ms. Veverka as incredibly inspiring due to her strength as a trumpet player and a positive female role model. Her parents and brother have also been important sources of encouragement and support for her as well.
In addition to taking trumpet seriously, Claire is a dedicated student who is pursuing a degree in Psychology at Centre College and is performing in the orchestra on a music scholarship. As a “straight A” 4.0 GPA student, Claire took nine AP classes in high school and also greatly enjoyed competing on her high school’s Academic Team all four years of high school. She specialized in Arts & Humanities which helped her deepen her knowledge and understanding of classical composers. She also thoroughly enjoyed working as an after-school tutor at her local elementary school. Her favorite trumpet players to listen to are Alison Balsom, Tine Thing Helseth and Wynton Marsalis. As the October 2022 ITG Young Artist Award winner, she will receive a one-year complimentary membership to ITG. Congratulations Claire!
June 2022 Winner: Jack Bricklemeyer
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- Published: Wednesday, 13 July 2022 10:22
- Written by Anne K. McNamara
This issue’s featured young artist award winner is Jack Bricklemyer, a sixteen-year-old rising high school senior at H.B. Plant High School in Tampa, Florida. Jack has been an active member of his high school band program, performing in the wind ensemble and jazz band, since freshman year. He has placed as first-chair trumpet in the All-County band competition since he was in the seventh grade and has made All-State in 2019, 2021 and 2022. Similarly Jack has performed in the All-County jazz band in 2019, 2020 and 2021, often placing in the 2nd chair solo position. He also enjoys pursuing performance opportunities outside of school such as playing principal trumpet in the pit orchestra for the 2019 production of “White Christmas” at the Straz Performing Arts Center in downtown Tampa. Jack has also been quite active with the National Trumpet Competition (NTC) and International Trumpet Guild (ITG). He was a finalist in both NTC and the ITG youth competition in 2019 and 2021.
Ever since a young age, Jack has loved music and credits his dad as being the first person to expose him to a lot of different artists as they bonded over their shared love of music. In sixth grade, Jack was drawn to playing trumpet thanks to a very nurturing and enthusiastic band director, Jay Dedon. It was in Mr. Dedon’s middle school band where Jack grew and developed as a musician in a supportive band family. It was also during middle school when Jack began to study privately with trumpeter, Robert Murray, who has been very influential in his development as a trumpeter, particularly through his expertise in solo playing and exposing him to NTC and ITG. Dr. Murray describes Jack as “a terrific performer, exhibiting maturity in his musicianship beyond his age” who has successfully performed repertoire such as Timofei Dokschitzer’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and Rafael Mendez’s “La Virgen de la Macarena.” He also feels that Jack demonstrates a “genuine spirit of servant leadership” amongst his peers in his high school ensembles.
Some of Jack’s favorite trumpet artists include Louis Armstrong for his great melodic improvisation, Doc Severinsen for his power and tone, and Sergei Nakariakov for his technical command including his ability to circular breathe. He met both Doc and Sergei at the National Trumpet Competitions which was very inspirational for him. In addition to playing trumpet, Jack is a dedicated athlete, competing on his high school’s varsity soccer and varsity swim teams. Jack plans to major in music in college and perhaps double major in a math or science related field. As the June 2022 ITG Young Artist Award recipient, he will receive a one-year complimentary membership to ITG. Congratulations Jack!
March 2022 Winner: Nathaniel Williford
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- Published: Wednesday, 20 April 2022 17:15
- Written by Anne K. McNamara
This issue’s featured young artist award winner is Nathaniel Williford, a 17-year-old trumpet player who is currently a junior at Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, Florida. Nathaniel began his musical studies in sixth grade on the trombone but quickly decided to also start teaching himself how to play the trumpet. In fact, in 2018 he made the Florida All State Band on trombone prior to switching to trumpet as his primary instrument. In addition to playing trumpet in his high school’s Wind Ensemble, Latin Orchestra, jazz band and pit orchestra, Nathaniel performs in and leads his own groups including a jazz combo and the Nathaniel Williford Big Band. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nathaniel took advantage of the extra time by practicing four and five hours per day and by seeking out new opportunities including performing lead trumpet in the Florida State Youth Symphony’s Jazz Band from August 2020 through February 2021 and lead trumpet in the New York Youth Symphony’s virtual Jazz Band from January 2021 through July 2021. As a result of winning his audition with the New York Youth Symphony, he was awarded a fellowship to begin studying privately with the trumpet instructor of his choice which resulted in him studying with Wayne Bergeron.
Studying with his trumpet idol, Wayne Bergeron, has been incredibly exciting and beneficial for Nathaniel particularly because he wants to study trumpet performance and music production in college in order to become a studio musician and perhaps open a music studio of his own. Speaking of Nathaniel, Wayne Bergeron says, “I was immediately impressed with his persistence, dedication, and knowledge, especially from someone only 16 years old. Nathaniel is beyond his years as a player. He is a committed musician with a strong work ethic.”
While attending his first I.T.G. conference in 2019, Nathaniel met Adam Rapa and Trent Austin who were so impressed with his promise as a trumpet player that they gifted him with two Lotus mouthpieces and a 2RL custom trumpet. Additionally he was able to meet and listen to several other inspirational trumpet players at that conference which encouraged him to continue working and improving on his playing. Some of his other favorite trumpet players include Clark Terry, Maynard Ferguson, Esteban Batallán, Maurice Andre, Clifford Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Fats Navaro, and Adam Rapa. Nathaniel credits his mom, Eminia Prasad, with recognizing that trumpet is what he was meant to do since day one of his musical studies. He is also very grateful for the support and guidance he has received from his band directors and teachers including Bill Molineaux, Jason Anderson, Stephen Grindel, Major Bailey and Dan Miller. As the March 2022 ITG Young Artist Award recipient, he will receive a one-year complimentary membership to ITG. Congratulations Nathaniel!
January 2022 Winner: Jack Towse
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- Published: Saturday, 05 March 2022 15:45
- Written by Anne K. McNamara
This issue’s featured young artist award winner is Jack Towse, a nineteen-year-old trumpeter and Cannonball trumpet artist from Huntington Long Island, NY. Jack graduated from Friends Academy High School in June 2021 and began his bachelors degree in jazz performance at Juilliard this past fall. Ever since he was 12-years-old, Jack attended the Manhattan School of Music PreCollege division studying both classical and jazz trumpet. While attending MSM, he studied with Jonathan Heim, Nadje Noordhuis and Jeremy Manasia, he attended theory, ear training, jazz history and composition and arranging classes, performed in jazz combos and also played in the orchestra. Speaking of Jack’s playing Nadje Noordhuis says, “he can transcribe difficult passages on the spot, play with a beautiful and full sound, and execute challenging intervallic leaps perfectly. He can swap between classical and jazz interpretations with the greatest of ease, and is an extremely gifted soloist in both jazz improvisations and in the classical realm.” In 2017, Jack was invited to join the Jazz at Lincoln Center High School Jazz Academy where he played under the direction of Ted Nash and Tatum Greenblatt. With the Lincoln Center band, he had the opportunity to play three to four shows a year at Dizzy’s club performing with several artists. Jack also performed in his high school’s jazz band and participated in All County and All State competitions, performing with the All State jazz band his junior and senior years of high school. In 2018, he attended the Summer Jazz Academy at Lincoln Center studying with Marcus Printup followed by the opportunity to tour Taiwan and China with Sean Jones in 2019.
Jack has also been successful in national and international competitions. In the National Trumpet Competition Junior Division, Jack placed in 3rd place in 2016 and 2nd place in 2017. In 2018, Jack placed in 2nd place in the I.T.G. Youth competition. In January 2021, he was one of seven high school students named a finalist in the Young Arts Jazz Division. Jack also excels academically, taking several AP classes sophomore through senior year of high school and earning top honors each year for his grades.
Some of his favorite trumpet players include Kenny Wheeler, Freddie Hubbard and Eddie Henderson. He is very grateful for his experiences at MSM and Jazz at Lincoln center as they greatly shaped his character and his playing. He also cites Nick Mondello as being very influential in his development as a player since he introduced Jack to opportunities such as NTC and ITG. Jack’s family is another important influence as his older brother Sam plays jazz piano and studies at MSM, his younger brother Spencer plays the drums and attends the MSM PreCollege division and Jazz at Lincoln Center and his father plays guitar. Jack’s favorite hobbies include photography, hanging out on the beach and swimming in the ocean. As the January 2022 ITG Young Artist Award recipient, he will receive a one-year complimentary membership to ITG. Congratulations Jack!