Dr. Brad Ulrich has been the trumpet professor at Western Carolina University since 1989. He received his Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the Florida State University where he studied with Bryan Goff. His Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Trumpet Performance and Literature were awarded from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he studied with Ray Sasaki and Michael Tunnell. He has had additional lessons with Raymond Mase, George Vosburgh, Adolphe Herseth, James Thompson, Vincent DiMartino, and Chrispian Steele Perkins.

Maintaining an active performing career, Dr. Ulrich currently performs with the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, the Asheville Symphony Brass Quintet, the Fortress Brass Quintet, and the System 5 Brass Quintet. He has performed as an Extra Trumpet with the Montreal Symphony and has formerly held positions in the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra, Greenville Symphony Orchestra (SC), Brevard Chamber Orchestra the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (IL), the Champaign-Urbana Symphony (IL), Sinfonia da Camera (IL), and the Cedar Falls Waterloo Symphony (IA).

Dr. Ulrich has performed countless recitals both as a soloist and in brass quintets. He has performed and taught across the United States and in Russia, Canada, England, Ireland, Wales, St. Barths, Italy, China, Germany, Jamaica, Hungary, Romania, Greece, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Mexico, South Africa, Belgium, and France.

For 30 years, Dr. Ulrich was the Artistic Director/First Trumpet of the Smoky Mountain Brass Quintet, which gave its New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in June 2007. He is also a founding member of the Fortress Brass Quintet and System 5 Brass Quintet, which tour nationally and internationally each year. The Fortress Brass Quintet is comprised of five university brass professors from five different universities across the United States. System 5 Brass is made up of five top brass players/teachers from five different universities in the State of North Carolina.

Over the years Dr. Ulrich has published over a dozen articles in the International Trumpet Guild’s Journal. He was for 10 years Public Relations Director for ITG and the Competition Page Editor for the ITG Youth Website. He has also served on the Membership Development Committee for ITG.

Dr. Ulrich is the Executive Director of the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast and is an Artist/Clinician for XO Professional Trumpets. Dr. Ulrich has three won the James Dooley Award for Excellence in Teaching Music (2002, 2008, 2015) and in 2013 he was awarded the prestigious University Scholar Award from Western Carolina University.

Trumpet artist Garrett Klein has performed across the United States and Asia as a soloist, chamber player, and orchestral musician. He is currently serving as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at UNC Greensboro where he leads the Trumpet Studio, coaches the Graduate Brass Quintet, and directs the Trumpet Ensemble. Previously Garrett served on the faculties of St. Olaf College and Gustavus Adolphus College.

Garrett is a member of the Dallas Brass, an internationally recognized touring ensemble. Dallas Brass has a legacy of presenting uplifting performances, which span a wide array of musical styles. In addition to performing shows across the country, Dallas Brass demonstrates a steadfast commitment to music education by working to inspire students of all ages while on tour.

Outside of touring with Dallas Brass, Garrett has performed with the Charlotte Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, the North Carolina Brass Band, and the Carolina Brass. He has also appeared as a guest musician with The Phoenix Symphony, the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the New World Symphony, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. Additionally, Garrett is an Associate Artist with the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass. A new music advocate, Garrett has worked with composers to commission new works for trumpet, presenting newly composed works at International Trumpet Guild Conferences.

Garrett earned his DMA and MM degrees at Arizona State University, along with a Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy. Prior to ASU, he studied at the prestigious Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore and St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Garrett Klein is an endorsing artist for Conn-Selmer and proudly performs on Vincent Bach trumpets.