ERIC BAKER

Eric Baker grew up in Ft. Worth, TX, and began playing the trumpet at age 11. He received his B.M. in Music Education from the University of Texas at Arlington, and earned his Master’s Degree in Trumpet Performance from Arizona State University where he studied with internationally renowned trumpet soloist, David Hickman. Mr. Baker was a member of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps for three years (2000, 2002, 2003).

Mr. Baker moved to Odessa, TX in July 2006 to begin his tenure as Co-Principal trumpet with the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale. He has also performed with the Big Spring Symphony, and the San Angelo Symphony, the Legend Brass Quintet, the West Texas Trumpet Workshop, and the Salt River Brass Band. He also performs regularly with the Lone Star Brass Quintet, Current Nine, The Pinstripes Jazz Quartet, and Emily & the Rhumba Kings. He performed with the touring production of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, and has performed on stage with The Temptations and The Four Tops. He free-lances all over West Texas, and is a highly sought-after marching band clinician and private teacher.

In 2007 Mr. Baker was invited to be a featured soloist at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, WA, and in 2010, he was a semi-finalist for the National Young Artists Competition. In 2011 he performed as a trumpet soloist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale, and in 2016 he was invited back to perform with the MOSC as a vocal soloist. Mr. Baker appears as a trumpet artist on the albums "What Sweeter Music" and "Rocket Science," and appears on the album "Caleb Young" as a vocalist.

He was appointed to the position of Director of Bands at Odessa College in 2009 where he conducts the Concert, Jazz, and Athletic bands, teaches the trumpet studio, conducts the opera productions, and serves as Chair of Visual and Performing Arts Department. He also serves on the board of directors for Odessa Arts, and the West Texas Jazz Society. His wife, Emily is the director of the MOSC Voices of the Permian Basin. They have three daughters, Piper, Keller, and Harper. Mr. Baker is a Conn-Selmer Endorsing Artist.

BEN FAIRFIELD - TRUMPET

Ben Fairfield, a native of Staunton, VA, is the newly appointed Co-Principal Trumpet of the Midland-Odessa Symphony and a member of the Lone Star Brass Quintet. He also serves as Principal Trumpet of the Abilene Philharmonic, as a member of the Lone Star Winds in Dallas, TX, and performs frequently throughout the United States. Recent engagements have taken him to New York, NY, Albuquerque, NM, Denver, CO, Miami, FL, Philadelphia, PA, and San Francisco, CA. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in trumpet performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from James Madison University. His teachers include Craig Morris, former Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Gilbert Johnson, former Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and James Kluesner Professor Emeritus of Trumpet at James Madison University.

Ben has taught trumpet at Eastern New Mexico University, Auburn University, Barry University, and the University of Miami. He is also a veteran of the United States Army, performing as a member of the United States Continental Army Band at Ft. Monroe, VA. With this group, he performed throughout the United States on tours with both the Concert Band and Brass Quintet. He has performed as a featured soloist with the United States Continental Army Band and several orchestras, performing works ranging from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 to Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in Eb and Copland’s Quiet City, and with noted opera singers Placido Domingo, Denyce Graves, Ailyn Perez, and Bryn Terfel. He has also performed at the conferences of the International Trumpet Guild, the American Bandmasters Association, and the Virginia Music Educators Association, and in many of the nation’s leading concert halls including Carnegie Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.

In March 2017, Ben and pianist Liana Pailodze Harron gave the New York City premiere of Grammy Award winning composer Michael Daugherty’s The Lightning Fields for trumpet and piano at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, NYC. The duo has also worked with Eric Ewazen on his popular Sonata for Trumpet and Piano, with plans to record the sonata in collaboration with the composer in the near future. The duo’s recording of Lucid Dream, an arrangement of Michael Nyman’s Flugelhorn and Piano can be found on iTunes and YouTube.

Ben is a Vincent Bach performing artist, a division of Conn-Selmer.

SCOTT MILLICHAMP

Scott Millichamp is Co-Principal Horn of the Midland-Odessa Symphony Orchestra, hornist with the MOSC’s Lone Star Brass quintet, Fourth Horn with Abilene Philharmonic, Principal Horn with the summertime Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Instructor of Music Theory and Aural Skills at University of Texas of the Permian Basin, and Co-Music Director at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Midland.

A native of Detroit, he graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy with a Fine Arts Award in Horn and received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Horn Performance from Indiana University. Following his time at IU, he served concurrently as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in Composition at the University of Hawaii in Manoa, a substitute hornist with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra, pianist for Honolulu Waldorf School eurythmics classes, and Choir Accompanist for First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Honolulu. Prior to his MOSC appointment in 2009, he served as Fourth Horn of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; he has also performed with Arkansas’s Opera in the Ozarks festival and the Lyrique-en-Mer opera festival on Belle-Ile, France. As a recent guest soloist for the Midland-Odessa Symphony and Chorale, Mr. Millichamp performed Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1.

NICHOLAS CONN

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Nicholas is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he received his Bachelor of Music degree. In December 2015, Nicholas received a Master of Music degree from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK where he graduated with Distinction.

Nicholas is currently in his 2nd Season as Principal Trombonist with the Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale and is the trombonist in the Lone Star Brass Quintet. Nicholas has previously appeared with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (UK) and Opera North (UK). In addition to his orchestra and brass quintet appointments, Nicholas is on the adjunct faculty of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin as trombone instructor and Odessa College as trombone and euphonium instructor. In addition to leading the trombone studio at both institutions, Nicholas is also the conductor of the newly founded UTPB Trombone Choir which he started in Spring 2017. Beginning in Fall 2017 at UTPB, he will be the Lecturer in Jazz Improvisation as well as Instructor for the UTPB Philharmonic Wind/Brass/Percussion section.

Active over the past few years as a trombone soloist, Nicholas has appeared in the United States and abroad. Most recently, Nicholas appeared with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Donetsk State Philharmonic Society in January 2017 as part of their 85th Concert Season. Nicholas had the distinct honor of being the first trombone soloist to perform the Concertino in Eb Major, Op. 4 by Ferdinand David and Concerto for Trombone, Op. 114 by Derek Bourgeois with this orchestra. In July 2016 Nicholas was invited to perform Land of the Free by Walter Rogers with the Heart of Texas Concert Band for Independence Day Celebrations at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Other recent performances of note include an appearance with the Lichfield Sinfonia (UK) playing the Concerto for Trombone by Launy Gröndahl and an appearance with the Manchester Beethoven Orchestra (UK) playing the Concertino in Eb Major, Op. 4 by Ferdinand David. In December 2014, during the opening of the “Philip Jones Centre for Brass” at the Royal Northern College of Music, Nicholas was invited to play as a featured soloist with a 10 piece brass ensemble playing an arrangement of Londonderry Air, which was made famous by former member of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, John Iveson. In addition to being a featured soloist, Nicholas had the special opportunity of playing this solo for Mr. Iveson who was a guest of honor for the opening ceremony.

In August 2015, Nicholas was given the special honor of being the opening act for acclaimed American Jazz pianist, Robert Glasper at the Manchester Jazz Festival, with an ensemble consisting of 5 trombones and rhythm section featuring his arrangements and compositions. Some of the jazz artists that Nicholas has appeared alongside include: Lee Konitz, Bob Brookmeyer, Wycliffe Gordon, Tim Garland, Nikki Illes, Julian Joseph and Mark Nightingale. In October 2015, Nicholas was selected as a finalist in the Johnny Raducanu International Jazz Competition in Romania.

Nicholas has had his arrangements and compositions played around the world. While living in the UK, he had some of his big band arrangements played live on BBC Radio 3 in Manchester by the RNCM Big Band. Most recently, Nicholas wrote a woodwind quintet arrangement of the Brazilian choro song Tico-Tico for the West Texas Winds. Nicholas has had the privilege of studying trombone with: Rob Holliday, Roger Cutts, Simon Cowen, Jiggs Whigham, Dr. John Marcellus, Mark Kellogg, Ron Wilkins, Ed Geimer, and Dr. Carl Lobitz.

KEVIN YOUNG

Dr. Kevin Young is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he began his music career playing trombone and tuba at the age of 11. After graduating from high school, he attended Louisiana State University. His academic career was interrupted with his enlistment into the United States Army. He spent nearly nine years serving his country at four separate duty stations. His assignments were to the 1st Calvary Division Band in Ft. Hood, Texas, 8th Army Band in Yongsan, Seoul, Korea, The United States Continental Army Band in Ft. Monroe, Virginia and the 389th Army Band (AMC's own) in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. Dr. Young has performed extensively throughout the East Coast from Orlando, Florida to Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has also performed as a free-lance musician outside of his military assignments with many chamber ensembles.

Now out of the military, Dr. Young completed his D.M.A. at Texas Tech University, where he studied with Dr. Kevin Wass, and has completed both the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Louisiana State University. He maintains an active private studio where many of his students have made the All-State, Area, and Region bands. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty for the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB) and Midland College. One of his favorite teaching engagements is the Bowie Fine Arts Academy in Midland, TX where he teaches 4th-6th grade band students. Dr. Young has also served on the faculties of Wayland Baptist University, and Lubbock Christian University. Just recently, he had a successful inaugural run of “Kevin Camp”, where he teaches brass fundamentals to students aged 14 years old and older.

Dr. Young is the Principal Tuba player for the Midland Odessa Symphony & Chorale, Big Spring Symphony, and the Lone Star Brass quintet. He has performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Rapides Symphony Orchestra, Lake Charles Symphony, San Angelo Symphony, Dominion Brass Band in Virginia, and the Salt River Brass in Phoenix, Arizona. His playing has been greatly influenced by Dr. Kevin Wass, Gene Pokorny, Randy Hawes, Dr. Joseph Skillen, Larry B. Campbell, Sam Pilafian, Pat Sheridan, Deanna Swoboda, and Robert Nuñez.

In his spare time, Kevin is an avid cook learning new and creative Cajun recipes, but he is still learning how to create the perfect omelet. However, his favorite activity is spending time with his wife, Lee Ann, and their four puppies: Ginger, Charlie, Sophie, and Myrtle.