Baylor students win first (again!) in the National Trumpet Competition

For what is now the sixth time in nine years, Baylor trumpeters have won first place at the National Trumpet Competition!

Every year, the NTC brings in the top young trumpet players from around the country. This year, it was the Baylor Gold team that claimed first in the small ensemble division at the competition in Kentucky, upholding Baylor’s name as the best in the nation. Additionally, the Baylor Green team took third place in the large ensemble division.

“His impact as a teacher of young musicians is his most enduring legacy,” School of Music Dean Gary Mortenson (a trumpet player himself) says about the group’s professor, Wiff Rudd, BMED ’77. “Wiff has a sense of empathy for what musicians go through when they struggle with the difficulties of trying to express something significant by setting the lips in vibration and moving air through a brass tube. His students trust him, value his wise counsel, and feel fortunate to be around him and their dedicated peers.”

[READ more about Rudd and the Baylor trumpet studio from Baylor Magazine]

Several years ago, Rudd decided that some of his students were good enough to submit solo recordings to the National Trumpet Competition. Four students were invited, and one made the final four. It created a spark of interest among the Baylor trumpeters; now, Baylor trumpeters can be found at the event annually.

“With the trumpet studio, I wanted to create a place where students can fail and still sleep well,” Rudd says. “Seeing them helping each other despite individual competition is the most rewarding thing, and they’re just flourishing. Success breeds success, and I think their accomplishments have come from them loving to share the gift of music.”

Sic ’em, Baylor Trumpets!