Two Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Music trumpet ensembles are working to hit their stride and make history along the way.
The six-member groups will compete March 13-16 in the small ensemble division of the collegiate National Trumpet Competition (NTC) at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth — marking the first time in school history an SIU ensemble has reached the NTC since the contest’s inception in 1992. What makes the feat even more impressive is Ricky Spears, the school’s assistant professor of trumpet, began working to assemble his 18-member trumpet studio from scratch shortly after being hired in spring 2024 for the fall semester.
“They are working hard and making improvements daily,” Spears said. “I’m very proud of them and their dedication to music.”
The 18-member trumpet studio and both ensembles will perform at a free, public concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, in Shryock Auditorium.
Each year, there are about 100 video submissions from universities across the nation, including some with two or three ensemble entries. The competition is whittled down to 40 entries in two divisions — for ensembles with six or fewer people and those with seven or more. The competition includes teams from the University of Michigan, University of Colorado-Boulder, Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute, TCU, University of North Texas, Vanderbilt University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Baylor University, the Manhattan School of Music and Ohio State University.
“It’s kind of surreal,” said Riley Stephens, a junior in trumpet performance from Ashland, Kentucky, whose SIU Black ensemble will play “Conquest,” by composer Erik Morales.
“I think all of us, having come from such humble beginnings as trumpet players and seeing that this is very real and something that can actually happen for us – I don’t know if it’s hit very many of us yet. It probably won’t hit until we are on the way,” she said.
Stephens transferred from Morehead State University after its longtime trumpet professor, who also taught Spears, retired and advised her to come to SIU. She is one of a mix of undergraduate and graduate students who came to Carbondale after Spears, who coincidentally is originally from Ashland, Kentucky, was hired.
She credits Spears for his support of students not only in the studio, but outside of the classroom to ensure “we have everything we need.”
“We have people from towns smaller than mine and Dr. Spears’ who are here and they are out there flourishing under his direction,” Stephens said.
Top contest
The NTC is the “pinnacle in the trumpet world,” said Richard Kelley, director of the School of Music. Each instrumental organization has its own unique way of creating events “that challenge and celebrate musical achievement,” and SIU School of Music students have garnered individual success at various events in the past but not in this type of format, Kelley said.
“Having an ensemble rise to this level is quite significant since you have to build a team that can work collaboratively and overcome differences in age, experience and ability,” Kelley said. “In sports, great coaches know how to manage these variables and help the team achieve. In music, it takes a great musical leader, and Dr. Spears is just that.”
Spears and his wife, Brittainy, who is an assistant lecturer in trumpet in the School of Music, came to SIU from Southern Nazarene University, where Ricky Spears spent eight years as assistant professor of trumpet and director of bands.
Honing their craft
Along with classwork, the students have studio warmups that begin at 6 a.m. daily and include evening rehearsals that last about 90 minutes three nights a week. Evan Houston, a first-year graduate student in trumpet performance from Bethany, Oklahoma, was one of Spears’ students while in high school and at Southern Nazarene University.
His SIU Maroon Ensemble will perform “Vuelta del Fuego” by Kevin McKee, a 7-minute piece featuring different keyed trumpets, and both ensembles are working on choreography. The competition setting is about musicality and “how musical you can play the piece over the other groups that are competing as well as getting the audience involved.”
“It’s definitely a team process that is involved,” Houston said. “We all get along and want to practice more; we feel like we don’t practice enough.”
Being a part of the first SIU trumpet ensemble to reach a national competition is less about pressure and more about motivation, said Houston, who said his decision on furthering his education came to what he wanted from a studio and graduate school.
“I really trusted that Dr. Spears would know the process of getting me to the next level as well as teaching me how to teach others,” he said.
Teamwork is essential
Alex Cude, who is part of the “Conquest” ensemble, said if there is a free moment, studio members will grab someone “and work on our articulation and the sound.”
While the students each play individual instruments, teamwork within the ensembles is “pretty much everything,” said Cude, a first-year graduate student in trumpet performance from Mena, Arkansas.
“You have to work together. Everyone plays a critical part. You have to be individually prepared, but you have to be able to put it together as a team to make it work,” Cude said. “That’s why we do what we do — showing up at 6 a.m. and doing run-throughs two or three times a day. Being part of a team is holding each other accountable and making sure that we are doing the right thing.”
Spears said that succeeding in musicianship carries the same attributes as athletics.
“Part of our philosophy in the trumpet studio is that we are the first ones in the building,” he said. “To be in that 1% of people who may have a shot of actually doing this, you have to be prepared to do it. It’s just like athletics — there’s no guarantee that everybody will play professionally, but you have to put in the time if you have that desire. We are very fortunate. We have students who desire that quality and that type of life and that desire to be in the top 1% of musicianship.”
Cude, who earned a double degree in music education and trumpet performance at Southern Arkansas University, first met Spears at a brass band performance in Shreveport, Louisiana, where Spears was playing.
“The sound was just immaculate, and I was in awe — I was like, ‘This is the sound that I want; this is what I need,’” Cude said. He contacted Spears, took a few lessons, and with the help of Spears and Kelley wound up at SIU.
Building the studio
Assembling the students in a short period of time was “kind of like the perfect storm,” said Spears, who brought students with him from Southern Nazarene University, recruited students from areas where he had previous connections and talked with students who auditioned with the School of Music last spring. Spears will continue to build — each of the 18 current students can return for the 2025-26 academic year, and he already has four new commitments for fall 2025.
Each of the 18 students in the studio, both graduates and undergraduates, have a singular desire to succeed, Spears said.
“Every one of these students’ commonality is that they work hard,” he said. “A lot of them come from very humble beginnings. Almost all of them do. They use that to their advantage of work ethic and the culture that is cultivated here in the studio. They do it together, not against each other. Even when they are not performing, they are working as a team.”
The SIU School of Music Trumpet Studio students are:
SIU Black Ensemble:
- Adam Arbetello, sophomore, music education, Yukon, Oklahoma.
- Noah Baney, freshman, trumpet performance, Kewanee, Illinois.
- Alex Cude, first-year graduate student, trumpet performance, Mena, Arkansas.
- Nathaniel Schoenbaum, junior, trumpet performance, Norman, Oklahoma.
- Xander Lynch, junior, trumpet performance, Bethany, Oklahoma.
- Riley Stephens, junior, trumpet performance, Ashland, Kentucky.
SIU Maroon Ensemble:
- Evan Houston, first-year graduate student, trumpet performance, Bethany, Oklahoma.
- Jeff Imes, senior, trumpet performance, Lexington, Kentucky.
- Nick Lyon, senior, music business, Pikeville, Kentucky.
- Emanuel Terrazas, junior, trumpet performance, Oklahoma City.
- Andrew Travis, junior, trumpet performance, Norman, Oklahoma.
- Hali Wenglarz, first-year graduate student, trumpet performance, Newman, Illinois.
Remaining trumpet studio members:
- Nicholas Bruno, first-year graduate student, trumpet performance, Mesa, Arizona.
- Joshua Casteel, freshman, music education, Chester, Illinois.
- Kristy Demos, alumni trumpet artist, Carbondale.
- Violet Dunmire, freshman, music education, Murphysboro, Illinois.
- Josue Hernandez-Martinez, junior, Oklahoma City.
- Charlie Wanstrath, freshman, music education, Cincinnati.
