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 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 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 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 West Texas Symphony, and in 2016 he was invited back to perform with the WTS 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 WTS 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 Co-Principal Trumpet of the West Texas Symphony, a member of the Symphony’s Lone Star Brass Quintet, and the Principal Trumpet of the Abilene Philharmonic. He is also the Associate Principal Trumpet of the Missouri Symphony in Columbia, MO and a member of the Lone Star Winds in Dallas, TX. He frequently performs as a guest member of the trumpet section with orchestras throughout the United States including the New Mexico Philharmonic, Santa Fe Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, San Juan Symphony, San Angelo Symphony, and the Waco Symphony. Recent engagements have taken him to New York, NY, 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 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, the Texas Music Educators Association, 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 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.

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, Fourth 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.

ARTURO GALVAN - TUBA

Arturo Galvan is an active performer and teacher in Texas and Georgia. He currently serves as Principal Tuba of the West Texas Symphony and the Lone Star Brass Quintet. He also serves as Instructor of Tuba/Euphonium at Odessa College.

Arturo has received multiple mentions and awards at several competitions such as the Georgia MTNA Young Artist Competition, Southern MTNA Solo Competition, and the International Leonard Falcone Competition. He is an active performer in multiple symphonies such as the La Grange Symphony Orchestra and the Albany Symphony Orchestra (GA). He also actively performs as Principal Tuba of the sAge Low Brass Quartet. 

Arturo currently holds a Bachelors degree in Music Education from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi and a Masters in Tuba Performance from Columbus State University. Arturo is currently at the University of Georgia pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts. His primary teachers include Dr. Dan Sipes, Dr. Alex Avila, and Dr. Matthew Shipes.