A versatile performer on modern and historic instruments, Phillip Chase Hawkins is an active performer, educator, and clinician. He holds the positions of Principal Trumpet with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Visiting Professor of Trumpet at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. From 2012-2013, he served as Interim Professor of Trumpet at the University of Kentucky. He is also a member of the Lexington Brass Band as soprano E-flat cornet, and of Saxton's Cornet Band, America's premier Civil War cornet band.
Chase has appeared in concert halls and recital venues around the world, including New York's Carnegie Hall; Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada; the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China; Tianjin Concert Hall in Tianjin, China; Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria; Stefaniensaal and Kasematten in Graz, Austria; Eastman School of Music's Kodak Hall; and National Conservatory of Music in Lima, Peru; among others. He has also had the wonderful privilege of performing under the direction of great conductors including Kurt Masur, James Levine, Phillipe Entremont, Alexander Kalajdžić, Edoardo Müller, and Keith Lockhart.
Chase has had the opportunity to perform with great artists, such as Vincent DiMartino, James Thompson, Denver Dill, Gaudete Brass Quintet, and the United States Naval Academy Brass Quintet. He has also performed with professional ensembles such as the Boston Pops Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra; and as lead trumpet with Mannheim Steamroller, Bluegrass Area Jazz Ambassadors, Havana Nights Salsa Band, and Half Ton Horns.
As a winner of multiple national and international competitions, Chase took first place at the Grand Valley State University International Solo Competition in July 2014. In 2013, He won first prize at the North American Brass Band Association Solo Competition (NABBA) in the high lyric category. In 2012, he was the first place winner of the National Trumpet Competition in the graduate division, as well as winning first place in the National Brass Symposium Solo Competition.
Chase holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with James Thompsons, former principal trumpet of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. While at Eastman, he was awarded the distinguished Performer's Certificate. He has also studied extensively with Vince Penzarella, former section trumpet of the New York Philharmonic, and Vince DiMartino, world renowned jazz and classical soloist and former Professor of Trumpet at Centre College.
