Steven Felix
Currently residing in Rochester, New York, Steve is a second-year Master’s student at the renowned Eastman School of Music. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Trumpet Performance and Music Education. An avid soloist, Steve has performed in competitions on the national and international level. In 2011, he was awarded second place in the undergraduate solo division of the National Trumpet Competition, performing the first movement of John Stevens’ Sonata for Trumpet and Piano. Steve has also been the recipient of three, consecutive scholarships from the International Trumpet Guild, from 2008-2010. During the summer of 2011, Steve attended The Center for Advanced Musical Studies at Chosen Vale, a two-week long annual seminar, where he studied with some of the world’s most renowned trumpet soloists.
A passionate and devoted educator, Steve has taught trumpet to students of all ages and skill levels for the past 8 years. Steve currently holds the trumpet intern position at the Eastman Community Music School, where he maintains a studio comprising trumpet students from the Greater Rochester area. While teaching in Massachusetts, many of his students went on to hold top positions in all-district and all-state music festivals. From 2012-2013, he served as trumpet teacher at the prestigious Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, MA. Along with teaching privately, Steve also teaches publicly as an active brass clinician. His clinic, entitled “Basics in Brass,” is designed to offer a simplistic and effective approach on playing a brass instrument.
Steve has also served as Choir Director of his chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at the University of Massachusetts, and also as President of the Pioneer Valley Trumpet Guild. Steve’s primary teachers include Paul Sundberg at Williams College, Eric Berlin at the University of Massachusetts, and James Thompson at the Eastman School of Music. His successes as a student, musician, and person can be directly attributed to the tremendous support of his family, friends, and mentors.