Brad Whitfield, Trumpet

Studio: Mason Hall Room 126-A
Phone: (256)-782-5559
Email: cbradwhitfield@gmail.com

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, trumpeter C. Brad Whitfield is in demand as a performer as well as an educator. As an orchestral musician, he has performed as principal trumpet with the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra, the Miami Symphony, Ballet Florida, the Treasure Coast Opera Orchestra, and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. He has also appeared in concert with the Florida Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Charleston Symphony, Key West Symphony, Florida Symphonic Pops, Miami City Ballet, Southwest Florida Symphony, and the New World Symphony. He has worked under the batons of such conductors as Maxim Shostakovich, Arthur Weisberg, James Judd, Anton Guadagno, Philippe Entremont, JoAnn Falletta, and Michael Tilson Thomas, and may be heard on recordings on the Albany and Naxos labels.  In March of 2003, he performed with the Fundacion Sinfonia de Santo Domingo (DR) and returned in March of 2007 as co-principal trumpet of the festival orchestra.

Mr. Whitfield is also comfortable in solo and chamber settings.  As a soloist, he has been awarded prizes in the National Trumpet Competition, the Florida ITG Solo Competition, and the Friends of the Boca Pops Solo Competition (open to all instruments). Mr. Whitfield made his solo debut in April of 1998 when he performed twice with the Florida Symphonic Pops at the request of conductor Crafton Beck. He was featured with the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble as the winner of the 2005 UGAWE Concerto Competition, and also performed as a soloist with both the UGA Symphony Orchestra and the Georgia Brass during the same year.

As a chamber player, he has appeared throughout the country in numerous recitals, outreach programs, public events, and radio and television broadcasts as a member of the TRADOC Band Brass Quintet, the Bulldog Brass Society, the Avalanche Brass, the Pennsylvania Brassworks, and the Sunset Brass Quintet. Mr. Whitfield is also an avid recitalist, having given solo performances in the United States and China.

A severe embouchure injury in the winter of 2005 nearly ended his performing career, and it was almost an entire year before his return to performing in any capacity. Following this rehabilitation, he performed with the Gwinnett Ballet Theater, the Fundacion Sinfonia, the Broadway touring production of Chicago, and was a frequent performer with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Republica Dominicana and the Virginia Symphony.

Mr. Whitfield is the first trumpeter to graduate from the Harid Conservatory, completing his studies in May of 1998 under Richard Stoelzel. He received his M.M. from the University of Miami (FL) where he studied with Gilbert Johnson and Craig Morris, and has completed coursework for the D.M.A. at the University of Georgia where he studied with Fred Mills. In September of 2008, Mr. Whitfield joined the U.S. Army as a 42R-9B and served as a member of the U.S. Army TRADOC Band at both Fort Monroe and Fort Eustis, Virginia until ending his term of service honorably in 2012. Mr. Whitfield has been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal, and is also a recipient of the Adjutant General's Medal of Excellence.