Ole Edvard Antonsen is one of the world’s leading trumpet soloists and a prominent international star from Norway. He has performed in over 45 countries, appearing on renowned stages such as Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, and Vienna’s Musikverein. As a soloist, he has collaborated with prestigious orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra, and conducted ensembles like the Royal Norwegian Air Force Band and the Norwegian Wind Orchestra.

Known for his versatility, Antonsen bridges classical, jazz, pop, and rock, working with artists like John Miles and Lisa Stansfield. He has recorded over 50 solo albums across various genres, premiered more than 60 works written for him, and composed pieces for his global "Musical Landscapes" tours.

A celebrated educator and conductor, Antonsen has held leadership roles at major institutions and festivals and been recognized with honors like Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav.

Esteban Batallán became principal trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra in September 2024, after serving as principal trumpet for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2019–2024), the Hong Kong Philharmonic (2018–2019), and the Granada City Orchestra (2002–2018). He has also performed as guest principal trumpet with the Royal Orchestra of Seville and La Scala in Milan.

Batallán has appeared with leading orchestras worldwide, including The Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Houston Symphony, under the baton of renowned conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Riccardo Chailly. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras including the Chicago Symphony and Spanish Radio Symphony, premiering works such as Mr. Batallán by Arturo Sandoval.

A native of Barro, Galicia, Spain, Batallán began studying music at age seven and trained at prestigious conservatories in Spain. He has won numerous competitions, including the Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, and is an experienced educator, teaching and leading masterclasses globally. Currently, he is on the trumpet faculty at DePaul University, serves as a coach for the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and is an International Bach Artist.

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.

For 27 years, Mr. Bilger was 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 + Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and School and most recently at the Hamamatsu International Festival and Academy. He has coached NYO-USA and NYO2.

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. He 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.

Gabriele Cassone received his conservatory diploma studying trumpet performance with Mario Catena and composition with Luciano Chailly. He is not only world-renowned as a performer on period instruments (Baroque natural trumpet, Classical keyed trumpet, rotary valve trumpet and cornet à pistons), but also as a contemporary musician.

Luciano Berio selected Cassone to record his Sequenza X for solo trumpet, and to premiere his Kol-Od with the Ensemble Intercontemporain under the direction of Pierre Boulez. He has also shared the stage with celebrated trombonist Christian Lindberg in Berio's opera Cronaca del Luogo, commissioned by the Salzburg Festival. Sir John Eliot Gardiner appointed Cassone principal trumpet in the English Baroque Soloists for the entire cycle of J. S. Bach's Cantatas and the Second Brandenburg Concerto, and Ton Koopman, director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, requested him as trumpet soloist for the ensemble's recording of Bach’s Cantata 51.

He has given solo concerts in major international venues, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Cité de la Musique in Paris, La Scala in Milan, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, New York's Carnegie Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and the Vienna Konzerthaus. He is featured on more than twenty recordings in repertoire from the Baroque through the contemporary era.

Interested for many years in the mind-body relationship and its influence on musical practice, Cassone began the study of bioenergetics in 1990, and subsequently attended meditation trainings involving body work  in Italy and India. He was certified as a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner in 2017.

He is author of The Trumpet Book (Zecchini Editore).

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.

Clément Saunier is a renowned trumpeter and educator, known for his innovative performances and contributions to contemporary music. A graduate of the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied under Clément Garrec and Jens McManama, earning top prizes in trumpet and chamber music.

Saunier has won prestigious awards at international competitions, including those in Porcia, Prague, and Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition. As a member of Ensemble intercontemporain since 2013, he has premiered numerous works, performing at renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonie de Paris, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. His repertoire includes works by Berio, Henze, Pintscher, and Lim.

Saunier has recorded several albums featuring 20th-century trumpet concertos and contemporary compositions, including the acclaimed Directions album. In 2025, he will premiere new works by Hèctor Parra and Jose Miguel Fernandez.

Since 2021, Saunier has taught at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon and performs on Antoine Courtois Confluence instruments.

Rebecca Wilt has received national and international recognition as a virtuoso collaborative pianist. She has worked with many of the world’s prominent wind instrument performers, as well as some of the country’s foremost vocalists, and has performed in many of the world’s greatest venues in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Rebecca has been the premiere pianist for many of the world’s wind-instrument conferences and competitions, including: Dublin Brass Week, the National Brass Symposium, the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Competition, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the National Trumpet Competition, the ARTS competition, the International Trombone Association, the International Horn Society, the North American Saxophone Alliance, the World Saxophone Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Flute Fair, the National Flute Association, the Music Teacher’s National Association, the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute, the Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Competition, the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the Tromp Muziek Biennale, and the International Women’s Brass Conference. She frequently gives workshops and master classes at universities and colleges all over the country on topics involving coaching, instrumental chamber music, rehearsing with a pianist, and the competition road.

Rebecca currently serves as the conference director for the International Trumpet Guild, and is active in recruiting young trumpeters to join the organization and participate in the annual conferences. Prior to her appointment with ITG, Rebecca served on the faculties of the University of Delaware, the University of North Carolina Greensboro, the University of Kentucky, Messiah College, Central Michigan University and the Interlochen Arts Academy. In addition, she is on the summer faculty for the Center for Advanced Musical Studies in Enfield, New Hampshire, and appears as a guest artist at various festivals all over the world.

Najib Wong (he/him) is the Director of the Philadelphia Music Alliance for Youth (PMAY) Artists’ Initiative, a city-wide collaborative music pathways program involving several Philadelphia organizations that supports students from underrepresented backgrounds in classical music. A product of a state-funded national youth orchestra program in Singapore, he uses his experience to inform his work as an arts administrator specifically serving traditionally marginalized communities and takes advantage of his tech background to build personalized data tracking systems. The PMAY Artists’ Initiative consistently positions students to be accepted into top college music programs with scholarship.

As a champion of collaborative impact, DEI initiatives and education, he has been part of multiple committees and presented on these topics at national and international events such as the Asian Artists in Discussion, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, the League of American Orchestras Conference, Orchestras Canada National Conference and Sphinxconnect. He also serves on the advisory board at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and is board chair of Network for New Music, Philadelphia's "premier new music organization".

Najib received his Diploma in Information Technology from Temasek Polytechnic, his BM in Trumpet Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music and his MM and DMA from Temple University. He was on faculty at Settlement Music School and Temple University Music Prep, and Lead Teaching Artist and Orchestra Conductor at Play On Philly, and an active freelancer in the Philadelphia area. His research in trumpet music has led to a publication in the International Trumpet Guild Journal entitled Honegger's Intrada. He was also the recipient of the Armando Ghitalla Fellowship at the Tanglewood Music Festival and a proud alum of the Chosen Vale Trumpet Seminar.