ERIC BAKER - TRUMPET

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.

Mr. Baker moved to the Permian Basin to begin his tenure as Co-Principal trumpet with the West Texas Symphony. 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 freelances all over West Texas, and is a highly sought-after performer and private teacher. He is a founding member of the "Lone Star State" chapter of the International Trumpet Guild.

Mr. Baker was invited to be a featured soloist at the Western International Band Clinic in Seattle, WA, and was a semi-finalist for the National Young Artists Competition. He has performed as a trumpet and vocal soloist with the West Texas Symphony, and 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 serves as Director of Community Engagement in Music and Visual Arts at The University of Texas Permian Basin. His wife, Emily is the director of the Voices of the Permian Basin. They have three daughters, Piper, Keller, and Harper. Mr. Baker is a proud Schagerl Artist.

BEN FAIRFIELD - TRUMPET

Ben Fairfield, a native of Staunton, VA, is the Co-Principal Trumpet of the West Texas Symphony, a member of the Symphony’s Lone Star Brass Quintet, the Principal Trumpet of the Abilene Philharmonic, and the Artistic Director of the West Texas Symphonic Brass. He frequently performs as a guest member of trumpet sections throughout the United States including the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, San Juan Symphony, and the San Angelo Symphony. Recent engagements have taken him to New York, NY, Dallas, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Denver, CO, Miami, FL, Philadelphia, PA, and San Francisco, CA. Prior to his time in Texas, he performed in the orchestras of the Florida Grand Opera and the Miami City Ballet in Miami, FL.

Ben is 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 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, performed with conductors Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, and Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and with noted opera singers Placido Domingo, Denyce Graves, Ailyn Perez, and Bryn Terfel. He has performed in many of the nation’s leading concert halls including Carnegie Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, 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 currently resides in Arlington, TX. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from James Madison University and graduate degrees (MM, DMA) in trumpet performance from the University of Miami Frost School of Music. 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. Additionally, he has studied with Philip Smith, former Principal Trumpet of the New York Philharmonic and Michael Sachs, Principal Trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra. 

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

SCOTT MILLICHAMP - HORN

Scott Millichamp is Co-Principal Horn of the West Texas Symphony, hornist with the WTS Lone Star Brass quintet, Principal Horn with Abilene Philharmonic, Principal Horn with the summertime Missouri Symphony Orchestra, Co-Music Director at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Midland, and instructor of horn and composition at UTPB. 

A native of Detroit, Scott 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’s Eurythmics classes, and Choir Accompanist for First Unitarian-Universalist Church of Honolulu. Prior to joining the WTS in 2009, he served as Fourth Horn of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra; he also was a member of Opera in the Ozarks festival from 2009-2011 and the Lyrique-en-Mer opera festival on Belle-Ile, France in 2008 and 2010. In 2015 he performed Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 with the West Texas Symphony.

For more information visit www.scottmillichamp.com.

STEWART RHODES - TROMBONE

Stewart Rhodes, a native of Fort Worth, TX, began
playing trombone at the age of 11. He received his B.M. and M.M. from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Mr. Rhodes is currently finishing up his DMA in Trombone from the University of North Texas. Mr. Rhodes’s primary trombone teachers include: James McNair, M. Dee Stewart, Peter Ellefson, Carl Lenthe, Denson Paul Pollard, Natalie Mannix, Tony Baker, and Steve Menard.

Mr. Rhodes moved to Midland, TX in July 2022 to begin his new role as Principal Trombone with the West Texas Symphony and trombonist with the acclaimed Lone Star Brass Quintet. Mr. Rhodes has had the privilege of performing with the Carmel Symphony, the McKinney Philharmonic, the Allen Philharmonic, the Terre Haute Symphony, the Miami Classical Music Festival Orchestra, and the Dallas Winds. He has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, TMEA, Normandy (France), London (England), the Meyerson (Dallas, TX), and several other venues around the United States.

Aside from performing, Mr. Rhodes is very active with the educational aspect of music. During his doctoral studies at UNT, he taught several private lesson students from Lewisville ISD, McKinney ISD, Birdville ISD, Cleburne ISD, and Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. His students have gone on to win spots in the TMEA All-Region, All-Area, and All-State Bands. Mr. Rhodes is also a strong proponent for the marching arts and regularly helps out with the marching bands at Birdville High School, Grapevine High School, Colleyville Heritage High School, and Odessa High School. Mr. Rhodes currently serves as the Director of Bands at Crockett Middle School in Odessa, TX and oversees a thriving program of more than 200 middle school band students. Mr. Rhodes hopes to inspire all of his students to be not only great musicians, but well-rounded individuals first and foremost.

Parker Burkey - TUBA

Originally from Grand Junction, Colorado, Parker Burkey earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in tuba performance from the University of North Texas. There, he studied with Donald Little and Matthew Good in addition to teaching his own
studio as a graduate teaching fellow. Parker spent the summer of 2025 playing with the Music School Festival Orchestra of the Chautauqua Institution. Parker is currently Principal Tuba of the West Texas Symphony and tubist of its resident brass quintet, Lone Star Brass.

GARY LEWIS - CONDUCTOR

Gary Lewis is the Music Director and Conductor of the West Texas Symphony orchestra. This is his 19th year with the orchestra and his 18th as Music Director. He is also Director of Orchestral Studies and the Bob and Judy Charles Professor of Conducting in the College of Music at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he conducts the University Symphony Orchestra and oversees the entire orchestra program. Mr. Lewis is equally at home with professional, university, and youth ensembles. In addition to his regular posts with the West Texas Symphony Orchestra and the University of Colorado Boulder, he serves as Principal Guest Conductor for the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and was the founding Artistic Director of the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras. He has also appeared with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Sichuan Philharmonic Orchestra (Chengdu, China), the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra, the New Symphony Orchestra (Sofia, Bulgaria), and the Western Plains Opera Theater. Lewis served as the Resident Conductor of the Pine Mountain Music Festival (opera and symphonic), for seven years and was the founding conductor of the Caprock Pro Musica. His work with summer music festivals has also been noteworthy including the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Pine Mountain Music Festival (opera and symphonic), and Rocky Ridge Music Center.

At CU Boulder, Mr. Lewis also leads the graduate program in orchestral conducting including both the masters and doctoral level. His former students are currently enjoying success as conductors with professional orchestras and opera companies, university and public school ensembles, and youth orchestras.

As a strong advocate of music education, Mr. Lewis has presented many in-service workshops for public school educators, as well as numerous presentations at state and regional music education association conferences. He has conducted All-State Orchestras and Bands in over 20 states along with the ASTA National Honor Orchestra and the Honor Orchestra of America. In 2010, Mr. Lewis became the founding Artistic Director of the Greater Boulder Youth Orchestras and he continues to serve as conductor of the Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Lewis is also a strong proponent of new music. He has been instrumental in the development and production of contemporary music festivals and his interest in new music has led him to collaborations with composers such as Dan Kellogg, Carter Pann, George Crumb, William Bolcom, John Harbison, Chen Yi, Michael Daugherty, Stephen Paulus, and many others. 

Gary Lewis is a Yamaha Master Educator.

WEST TEXAS SYMPHONIC BRASS

The West Texas Symphonic Brass is an ensemble made up of the top 
orchestral players across West Texas, who, when not busy with their primary orchestral duties, come together to perform great literature written for large brass ensemble. Making up the group are members of the San Angelo Symphony, Lubbock Symphony, Amarillo Symphony, the West Texas Symphony, and the Abilene Philharmonic. The WTSB performs throughout the region bringing their love of brass playing to the people. Building on a recent sold-out performance, the group continues to gain new audiences. Producing a diverse range of sounds and colors, the versatility of the ensemble’s programming has shown to enthusiastically please all audiences. The WTSB frequently engages world renowned artists to conduct and solo with the ensemble. Collaboration is at the heart of the group featuring an ever-broadening repertoire and appeal.