A native of Los Angeles, Ryan Bancroft is the Chief Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Artist in Association of the Tapiola Sinfonietta (Finland). He has appeared as guest conductor with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Bancroft first came to international attention in April 2018 when he won both First Prize and Audience Prize at the prestigious Malko Competition for Young Conductors in Copenhagen. He studied trumpet at the California Institute of the Arts and attended the Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar. He then went on to receive an MMus in orchestral conducting from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. While studying in Scotland he played trumpet with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on many occasions. He continued his conducting studies in the Netherlands and is a graduate of the prestigious Nationale Master Orkestdirectie run jointly by the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.

Hailed by the New York Times for his playing of “easy brilliance” and by the Washington Post for his “engaging legato touch,” David Bilger is Professor of Trumpet at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. From 1995 to 2022, he held the position of principal trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra, having previously held the same position with the Dallas Symphony.

As a soloist Mr. Bilger has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Oakland Symphony, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, and others. His solo appearances with The Philadelphia Orchestra include 2018 performances of Christian Lindberg’s Akbank Bunka, the Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E-flat in 2013, a 2008 United States premiere of Herbert Willi’s Eirene for trumpet and orchestra, as well as performances of Bloch’s Proclamation (2006), Copland’s Quiet City (2004), and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in E-flat (2003). In 1998 he performed Tomasi’s Trumpet Concerto at Carnegie Hall and on tour in North and South America. Mr. Bilger has performed recitals in New York, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other major American cities.

Mr. Bilger has appeared with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, with which he recorded Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto. Other chamber music appearances include Chamber Music Northwest, the New York Trumpet Ensemble, Saint Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, as well as guest appearances with the Canadian Brass and the Empire Brass. He also released a recording of electro-acoustic music for trumpet and synthesizers with composer Meg Bowles.

In addition to his full-time position at Northwestern University, Mr. Bilger is also completing his 27th and final year on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music. He is a former faculty member at Temple University, the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, Rice University, and held the position of Visiting Guest Artist at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. He has performed master classes at dozens of institutions, including the Juilliard School of Music, Indiana University, the University of Michigan, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Peabody Conservatory. He has also taught at the Pacific Music Festival, the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School and recently at the Hamamatsu International Festival and Academy and The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale.

Lifetime achievement awards include the 2022 International Trumpet Guild Honorary Award, the Guild’s highest honor, and the 2023 University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts Distinguished Legacy Award.

David Bilger holds a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Illinois.

Mr. Bilger is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Conductor, composer and trumpeter Stephen Burns is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Fulcrum Point New Music Project in Chicago. He has been acclaimed on four continents for his virtuosity and interpretative depth in recitals, orchestral appearances, chamber music, and multi-media performances. He has worked closely with composers John Corigliano, Osvaldo Golijov, Gunther Schuller, Jacob TV, and La Monte Young.

Native to Wellesley, Massachusetts, Mr. Burns studied under Carmine Caruso, Armando Ghitalla, Arnold Jacobs, Vincent Penzarella, Gerard Schwarz, Pierre Thibaud, William Vacchiano, and Roger Voisin at the Tanglewood Music Center, the Julliard School, and postgraduate work in Paris. He won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Avery Fisher Career Grant, the NEA Recital Grant, the Naumburg Award, the Charles Colin Award, the Meier Arts Achievement Award, and the Maurice André Concours International de Paris.

Mr. Burns is on faculty at DePaul University’s School of Music and The Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. A former tenured Professor of Music at Indiana University, a certified teacher in The Art of Practicing and Performing Beyond Fear, Prof. Burns is a Visiting Lecturer with Amici della Musica in Florence, Italy. CDs at Naxos, MHS, Dorian, Delos, Essay, Kleos, & Innova. Stephen Burns is a Yamaha performing artist.

A native of Chicago and graduate of Juilliard (BM, MM), Edward Carroll (b. 1953) is a trumpeter, conductor, and teacher of international stature. He serves as Professor of Trumpet and Coordinator of Brass Studies at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Professor at the Bard Conservatory of Music, and as a Senior Lecturer at Dartmouth College. Previous appointments include Associate Professor at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in 2007 — 2011 (assuming the role of brass area chair in 2009), the International Chair of Brass Studies at London’s Royal Academy of Music and Professor of Trumpet at the Rotterdam (NL) Conservatory. Edward Carroll is the Director of the Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale, and was responsible for the music programming of the California State Summer School of the Arts from 2006-2008. He also chaired the commissioning committee of the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) from 2005 — 2011.

Mr. Carroll has served as Principal Trumpet of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (James Conlon, Jeffrey Tate, and Valery Gergiev, Music Directors), the San Diego Symphony (David Atherton), and as Associate Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony (Lawrence Foster), touring most of the world’s major concert halls and festivals, and recording for Sony, EMI, Virgin, and Erato. A frequent guest with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Edward Carroll directed, recorded, and toured with the New York Trumpet Ensemble from 1979 to 1988. He has performed with the London Sinfonietta, Speculum Musicae, Music Today, I Musici di Montreal, Orpheus, the Bach Aria Group, the Handel and Haydn Society (Boston), and as soloist with many North American and European orchestras. Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Larry Polansky, Anne LeBaron, Bruce Adolphe, and Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec are among the many composers that have written new music for him, and his many solo recordings can be found on the Sony, Vox, MHS, and Newport Classic labels.

Mr. Carroll has presented master classes at the Juilliard, Eastman, and Manhattan Schools of Music, the Curtis Institute, Rice and Northwestern Universities, the Universities of Michigan and North Texas, the Interlochen Arts Academy, North Carolina School for the Arts, the Tanglewood Institute, as well as at the St. Petersburg Conservatory “Rimsky Korsakov” (Russia), the Central Conservatory of Beijing and Shanghai Conservatory (China), Bremen Trumpet Academy and Hochschulen für Musik Köln and Trossingen (Germany), The Paris Conservatoire (France), Liszt Academy of Budapest (Hungary), Sofia Conservatory (Bulgaria), Kuopio Conservatory (Finland), Novara Conservatorio “Guido Cantelli” and Bergamo Conservatorio “Gaetano Donizetti” (Italy) and in the UK at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (Glasgow), Royal Academy of Music (London), and Royal Northern Conservatory (Manchester). He is a frequent adjudicator of international competitions, including Porcia (Italy), Rangsit (Thailand), at the Central Conservatory (Beijing), chair of the Ellsworth Smith (Provo), Concert Artists Guild, Young Concert Artists, and Chamber Music America.

Edward Carroll is a Yamaha Artist.

A jurist at the 67th ARD International Music Competition (trumpet) in Munich, Mireia Farrés Bosch joined the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada in 2001 as principal trumpet and remained there until 2004 when she she assumed the same position in the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra OBC. She is a sought after teacher at ESMUC (Escuela Superior de Música de Catalunya) and has also taught at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Mallorca, the Conservatorio de Granollers, and regularly coaches young musicians in orchestras such as JONC and JONDE (Joven Orquesta Nacional de España). She has also given master classes at many Spanish and European superior conservatories.

Ms. Farrés has appeared as a soloist with the Orquesta Nacional de Andorra, the Orquestra Sinfónica de Granada, the Orquesta Real Filarmónica de Galicia, the Orquesta Sinfónica Salvador de Bahía, the Prague Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, amongst others.

The JCIN TOYP program has honored Mireia Farrés as an outstanding young person under the age of 40. These individuals exemplify the spirit of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Mission, and they serve as stellar examples of entrepreneurial spirit, ethical leadership, and have also cited her for her successful cultural activity.

Pasi Pirinen serves as Professor of Brass Instruments at Helsinki's renowned Sibelius Academy while concurrently holding the position of Principal Trumpet in the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. His musical journey began in Tornio, Finland, and continued at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London under the guidance of mentors John Miller and Paul Cosh between 1988 and 1992. Further enriching his education, he studied with other luminaries such as Michael Sachs in Cleveland and Antoine Curé in Paris.

Pirinen’s orchestral career commenced in Argentina, where he served as Principal Trumpet with the Córdoba Symphony and the San Luis Chamber Orchestra. He previously held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, before joining the Helsinki Philharmonic in 2005.

Pirinen has appeared as guest with several distinguished orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic and Mahler Chamber Orchestra as well as with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra on original instruments. As an educator he has previously held the role of Visiting Professor at the Latvian Academy of Music and the China Conservatory.

His achievements include winning the top honor at the ITG Ellsworth Smith Trumpet Competition in 1998 and earning the title of ’Brass Player of the Year' at the Lieksa Brass Festival in 1999. 

As an advocate for contemporary music, Pirinen is recognised for premiering trumpet concertos by esteemed composers such as Erik Bergman, Jouni Kaipainen, and Anthony Plog. His repertoire includes other notable contemporary works like Peter Maxwell-Davies' trumpet concerto, Hans-Werner Henze's Requiem, and Luciano Berio's Sequenza X. His critically acclaimed discography includes albums ’Heptade' and a trumpet concerto album released on the Alba label in 2014, featuring concertos by Haydn, Tomasi, and Kaipainen, performed with the Tampere Philharmonic under the baton of Hannu Lintu.

Pirinen generously shares his expertise through masterclasses conducted at music institutions worldwide. His dedication to the musical community is further demonstrated by his service on several prestigious international competition juries, including his recent chairmanship at the International Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Competition in the UK. Moreover, in 2024, he will join the jury for the renowned International Città di Porcia Trumpet Competition. 

Pasi Pirinen is a Yamaha Artist.

Clément Saunier studied at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) in the classes of Clément Garrec and Jens McManama. There he won his first prizes for trumpet and chamber music.

His performances at international trumpet competitions have been rewarded with several grand prizes, at Cita di Porcia (Italy), Prague, Jeju (South Korea), Théo Charlier-Brussels, Maurice André-Paris and Tchaikovsky-Moscow.

In 2013, he joined the Ensemble Intercontemporain and collaborated with the great composers and conductors of our time (Peter Eötvös, Matthias Pintscher, Pierre Boulez, Simon Rattle, Pablo Heras-Casado, François-Xavier Roth, Unsuk Chin, Martin Matalon, Helmut Lachenmann, Olga Neuwirth, Philippe Manoury, Hèctor Parra, Yann Robin…) and notably performs a large number of solo works from the trumpet repertoire and premieres at the Philharmonie de Paris, Köln, Hamburg, Tokyo, Moscow, New York, Munich and Berlin.

He has performed as a soloist with the Berlin Radio Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Brittany, the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne and the National Orchestra of Pays de la Loire and gives numerous recitals and master classes. at the University of Seoul, the Academy of Lucerne, the University of Tokyo, Bologna, Bogotá and Chosen Vale (USA).

His discography includes recordings of French concertos such as Tomasi, Jolivet, Chaynes, Boutry, Girard, Gotkovsky and contemporary works by Giacinto Scelsi, Toru Takemitsu, Matthias Pintscher, Hans Werner Henze, Peter Maxwell Davies…

After 7 years at the CRR of Paris, Clément Saunier has been a professor since 2021 at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Lyon.

He performs in chamber music with the Paris Brass Quintet, the Ensemble Trombamania and the organist Pascal Marsault.

Since 1998, he has been involved in various artistic and educational projects promoting the influence and development of his instrumental family. He created the international festivals "Le Son des Cuivres" in Mamers (72) and the Surgères Brass Festival (17) as well as the brass and percussion academy of Surgères.

Clément Saunier plays the instruments Confluence by Antoine Courtois.