UCA’s trumpet ensemble will sound on the national stage after it qualified to compete in the National Trumpet Competition.

The musicians will travel to Kingsville, Texas, for the March 8-11 competition hosted by Texas A&M University.

This is the first time that the ensemble will compete in an event of this scale; out of around 50 schools that submit, 30 are selected to enter the competition.

The National Trumpet Competition is one of the largest competitions where high school and university trumpet players gather to showcase their musical prowess and coordination as an ensemble.

The group will compete against other prestigious musical programs including the University of Texas at Austin, Baylor University and Shenandoah University.

Ross Ahlhorn, director of the trumpet ensemble, relayed the steps the ensemble took to be initially adjudicated.

“We have to prepare a piece and by mid-December, we have to make a recording of it and submit it,” he said.

The trumpeters will perform “Infinite Ascent,” a chamber music piece by Erik Morales.

In a chamber music arrangement, a conductor is not required to lead the band.

Ahlhorn said the piece “has plenty of technical challenges and musical challenges in it, but it’s more about what the students learn through the process.” 

“Everyone is in charge of keeping the ensemble together,” Ahlhorn said. “They’re having to learn interpersonal problem-solving skills, communication, that sort of thing.”

The ensemble rehearsed the piece since the beginning of last semester. They met each week on Mondays and Fridays through finals week to record their audition.

Landon Vaca, an ensemble member, said that the semester-long period of rehearsals sharpened the group’s cohesion and resilience in moments of stress and difficulty.

“It’s making sure that we’re all happy with each other,” Vaca said.

Vaca said rehearsals can test everyone’s morale. 

“If you rehearse, you’re making mistakes, things can get kind of tense,” he said. “So it was just a learning experience and figuring out who the group was. It was really exciting to see the end result.”

Ahlhorn relayed the news that they qualified to the ensemble via email Jan. 20.

“First thing I saw when I woke up was the email telling us congratulations,” Vaca said. “We weren’t all together, but it was still cool getting all the text messages from each other. And then I had former directors, former lesson teachers, reach out to me and congratulate me.”

During their visit, performers will have an opportunity to shop for new instruments from vendors all over North America and attend master classes from the nation’s finest trumpeters.

Ahlhorn said, “All the top trumpet players will be there, so it’s a good time to put a face with a name and start building those relationships.”

Performing in a national competition could potentially put UCA’s trumpet studio on the map, Ahlhorn said.

“Something like this could possibly help in recruiting,” Ahlhorn said. “Here’s this little school in Central Arkansas. Oh, but they have a pretty good trumpet studio because they’re going to do all these national things.”