Winthrop University’s trumpet ensemble is set to represent the state of South Carolina this March in the National Trumpet Competition at Texas Christian University (TCU).
The group of seven stands out as the first to participate in the NTC in Winthrop history and the only collegiate ensemble in South Carolina to advance to quarterfinals for the 2025 season. A university press release recently asserted that this event is the “largest and most prestigious competition for trumpet players in the United States.”
Josh Frye, a senior music technology major who has participated in the group during the entirety of his time at Winthrop, gave his thoughts on the competition and experience within the group.
“It’s very exciting to represent not only my future alma mater but to represent the state of South Carolina,” noting that both the University of South Carolina and Furman University trumpet ensembles were unable to join Winthrop at the NTC this year.
Frye elaborated on the audition and competition process, which the ensemble began by submitting a video of their best performance in November of 2024. From March 12 to 16, the group is set to participate in four rounds in front of a live audience, with beginning rounds on Thursday narrowing down to the semifinal and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, depending on their performance.
Nathan Brown, sophomore music education major, has been in the ensemble for two years and played an important role in encouraging the group to participate in the competition, along with helping to select the piece for their performance. Having participated in the high school division of the NTC while at Clover High School, along with member Will Isenhour, he explained that “We decided that we really wanted to do it again, so we pushed everyone to do it, and they agreed.”
Brown’s past experience with the competition dovetails with his prior connection to the group’s applied professor Dr. Marisa Youngs, who taught him trumpet lessons while at Clover High School. Youngs was an instrumental part growing his talents while at Clover, where he started to become serious about music after learning music theory and taking lessons from the instructor.
“She has taught me a lot, she’s been my mentor for a really long time,” Brown said.
Dr. Youngs is a continuing inspiration to Brown and encouraged Brown to audition for both the high school and college trumpet ensemble.
While Dr. Youngs has been valuable in organizing and supporting the group, their participation and current success is largely a result of individual student effort.
“There’s no director, there’s no conductor, it’s all student led […] It’s the most group effort that you could get out of an ensemble, there’s no one [member] that’s more important than the other,” Frye said.
The competition requires each group to master a particular musical piece, which they will continue to play throughout every round of the competition. Brown tasked himself with finding such a piece that would suit seven players, and eventually landed on “Fantasia for Seven Trumpets” by Eric Ewazen. While there was a limited number to choose from, Brown found a piece that had done historically well at the NTC, saying “This one’s been played the most and actually made it the farthest,” and that “It’s been a good piece” for the group overall.
The ensemble has been putting in the hours to perfect their piece, with rehearsals three times a week last semester and twice weekly for the spring, on top of their regular class schedule. They have additionally practiced in front of the Winthrop music department and were recently invited to open for UNC School of the Art’s Brass Day on Feb. 16, which hosted the famous Canadian Brass band, both of which allowed them to gain some experience in front of an audience.
Brown explained that the group tries to “hold each other accountable and make sure no one’s slacking” by picking apart different portions of Fantasia to have each other play individually and perfect which may be difficult to address during group rehearsal.
Both Frye and Brown affirmed that the ensemble is looking forward to the event.
“I think everyone’s excited,” Brown said.
For the three members who have past experience with NTC from high school, Brown explained that all of them had “…all done it before, so we’re not as nervous, but everybody else hasn’t done chamber music at a competitive level, so I’d assume they’re more nervous.”
Frye agreed that the event has invited some stress, but it is a point of pride as well.
“We’re stoked to be able to go make history,” Frye said.
As the only senior in the group, Frye particularly sees attending the NTC as a great accomplishment to finish off his time at Winthrop.
“I wanted to be able to go to college and say that I went to this big competition that not a whole lot of schools get to go to,” Frye said.
Of course, NTC grows in its competitive nature at the collegiate level, with Brown highlighting some struggles the group may face. As a group of seven in the large ensemble division, which spans from seven to ten musicians,
“We are the smallest band in the division, which is kind of a disadvantage.” Brown said, “The college division is a lot more competitive, […] undergrad, grad, people that are studying for their doctorates, are in these ensembles.”
With a large age range among participants, he feels that Winthrop is in some ways an underdog, expressing that the college division tends to be less fair, highly challenging, and generally more stressful than his experiences in high school. Fellow competitors include Florida State, Auburn University, and the University of Miami, among many others.
For those seeking to support their Eagles but unable to cheer them on in Fort Worth, Texas, donations are currently being accepted to assist with travel costs through a GoFundMe, accessible on the ensemble’s Instagram account @winthroptrumpets.
