Dr. J. Peyden Shelton maintains a reputation as an active performer, clinician, scholar and educator. He has been featured as a soloist with various ensembles including the Reston Symphony Orchestra, Winds of the Blue Ridge, Las Vegas Academy of the Arts and the Salt Lake Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber and ensemble musician, Dr. Shelton has performed with numerous groups including the Rochester Philharmonic, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Washington Concert Opera, Symphony Number One and the New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen. He has also been a featured performer with various artists such as Pharrell Williams, Gloria Estefan, The Beach Boys and Gloria Gaynor. In 2014, Dr. Shelton was awarded 1st place in the Graduate Soloist Division of the National Trumpet Competition performing Joseph Turrin's "Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra." Since that time, he has presented solo recitals at numerous universities and has been featured as a guest artist at various festivals including the Virginia Tech Trumpet Festival and Trumpet Festival of the Mid-Atlantic. Dr. Shelton is also one of the founding members of the electro-acoustic trumpet ensemble, Fifth Bridge.
As an educator, Dr. Shelton serves as the Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Utah's School of Music. Before joining the faculty at the University of Utah, he served on the faculties at both the University of Rochester and Cornell University as a Lecturer of Trumpet. Dr. Shelton has presented clinics and masterclasses at universities and conferences including the International Trumpet Guild Conference, International Horn Symposium and various state music educator conferences. His articles have been featured in the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Journal, where he also serves as a member of the ITG Journal's Music Review Team, Book Review Team and CD Committee. He serves as an adjudicator for the National Trumpet Competition and various state instrumental competitions.
Dr. Shelton holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Eastman School of Music, having studied with Professor James Thompson and Douglas Prosser. He also holds degrees from both the University of Miami's Frost School of Music and Virginia Tech studying under Professor Craig Morris and Dr. John Adler. He can be heard on Summit Records and SNOtone Records, as well as in the 4th edition of the Samuel Adler orchestration textbook by W.W. Norton & Company.
