Above: Mass trumpet ensemble performs at WCU festival.

Legendary trumpet virtuoso Allen Vizzutti will be the featured performer at the sixth annual Western Carolina University Trumpet Festival, the largest event of its kind in the United States, taking place on the WCU campus during the Jan. 18-20 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

The festival brings trumpeters from more than a dozen states to campus every year to attend clinics, concerts and exhibits, with participant having the opportunity to perform in a large trumpet ensemble with other players of equal abilities. The festival includes a performance by a mass ensemble expected to encompass 150 musicians on stage at one time. This year’s festival concert is set for 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, in the recital hall of the Coulter Building.

The event also will feature seven university trumpet ensembles – from the University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Kentucky, Emory and Henry College, Appalachian State University and Truman State University, in addition to Western. Also taking part will be a professional ensemble of college teachers, a large group of high school players, and an ensemble made up of middle school students.

Vizzutti (pictured), the headline performer, has shared the stage with Chick Corea, Doc Severinsen, the NBC Tonight Show Band, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman and many others. He will perform a classical trumpet recital at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18, in the recital hall of the Coulter Building. During a jazz trumpet concert at 8 p.m. Jan. 19 in the WCU Fine and Performing Arts Center, Vizzutti will be joined by the Pavel Wlosok Trio, consisting of WCU music faculty member Pavel Wlosok on piano, Eliot Wadopian on bass and Byron Hedgepeth on drums.

All concerts are open to the public free of charge. For more information, contact festival organizer P. Bradley Ulrich at (828) 227-3274.

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Last Modified: Tuesday, Jan 8, 2008