WELCOME to the UWYO Percussion and Brass Festival—a deep dive into all things Percussion and Brass, designed to inspire and elevate the next generation of musicians.
Join us for a intensive day filled with hands-on clinics and workshops led by industry experts, offering participants of all levels the opportunity to develop their musicianship.
From solo and ensemble competitions that showcase talent to captivating guest artist performances, this festival is a vibrant hub of musical collaboration and innovation. Join us for an unforgettable experience that aims to cultivate a passion for percussion and brass, fostering a community of dedicated musicians eager to learn and grow together!
REGISTRATION FEE: $15 per attendee
The registration fee covers:
All Festival Events During Day (PLEASE NOTE: The Evening Percussion Concert is a ticketed event. Tickets offered at discounted rate for festival attendees. Please reach out to the BCPA box office (307-766-6666) to receive discounted tickets.
One lunch for each festival attendee.
There is no charge for directors!
You will be asked to pay the registration fee at the registration table when you arrive on campus or you may pay in advance here.
Official Schedule, including performance times will be sent out two weeks prior to
festival.
QUESTIONS? Please contact Dr. Wheelock (percussion) at awheeloc@uwyo.edu or Dr. Wharton (brass) at dwharto1@uwyo.edu.
Justin Bartels, Nat Wickham, Steve Vaughn, Ben Shafer, Michael Spiro, Carl Dixon, UW Faculty Brass Quintet and UWYO Percussion Faculty.
Lunch Included in registration fee! UWYO Faculty and student performances
Bring some $$$ and take home new PERC/BRASS FESTIVAL APPAREL!
Check out the finest percussion and brass vendors from our region! Sticks, Mallets, Mouthpieces, Music and More!!!!
FOR SOLO & ENSEMBLE. Middle School and High School Solos and Ensembles welcome.
Get immediate feedback from guest artists while competing for prizes and a chance to play on the evening concert.
Hands on Workshops Covering:
Snare Drum
Mallets
Drumset
Hand Drums
Concert Percussion
Winner of Solo & Ensemble
UWYO Percussion Ensemble
Front Range Percussion Collective
Warmup with the Experts
Led by UW Brass Faculty
Masterclasses with Visiting Artists
Compete for prizes and a chance to perform on the Closing Concert.
Receive comments and performance tips by the visiting brass artists.
Brass Concert: 3:30 p.m., BCPA Concert Hall with UW Brass faculty and ft. Justin Bartels, Nat Wickham, Steve Vaughn, and Ben Shafer
Percussion Concert: 5:00 p.m., BCPA Concert Hall with UW Percussion Ensemble and Samba Bateria ft. Micheal Spiro and Carl Dixon
Justin Bartels has been Principal Trumpet of the Colorado Symphony since July 2008. In January 2025, Justin joined the faculty at Colorado State University where he assists Professor Stan Curtis and the CSU Trumpet studio as a private lesson instructor, chamber music coach and assists with Trumpet studio class. In addition to CSU, Justin serves on faculty at the University of Colorado where he leads an orchestral brass class each semester. He has previously taught at The University of Denver, Metropolitan State University and Regis University. Many of his students play, teach and perform around the country in professional orchestras, in college teaching positions and in the nations armed forces musical ensembles as well as in arts administration.Prior to joining the Colorado Symphony, Justin held the Principal Trumpet position with Columbus Symphony in Columbus, Ohio from 2007-2008 and a fellowship with the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida from 2003-2006. Justin has performed as a guest Principal trumpeter with the San Francisco Symphony, New York City Ballet, and St. Louis Symphony. Hehas also had the pleasure of performing with many of the country’s top orchestras including: The New York Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony, Alabama Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, LosAngeles Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and the Houston Symphony. He has also served asprincipal trumpet with the Central City Opera from 2006 – 2012 in addition to principal trumpet positions with the Augusta Symphony and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic.
Justin is a proud graduate of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (B.M. 2003), he also attended the University of Alabama (BM Studies 1996-1997) and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (BM Studies 1997-2000). Justin had the privilege to study with many great trumpet teachers and performers including Marie Speziale, John Rommel, Ed Cord, Alan Siebert, Michael B. Johnson, and Joe Ardovino. Justin attended high school in Birmingham, Alabama where he was part of a thriving instrumental music program at Pelham High School under the direction of the late James H. Duren.
Justin enjoys skiing, playing hockey and golf as well as watching the Denver Broncos, Colorado Avalanche, Alabama Crimson Tide football and the Atlanta Braves baseball. He lives in Denver with his wife Myroslava, violinist with the Colorado Symphony, their two daughters and their two Siberian cats Dagny and Mikko. Justin performs on Yamaha Trumpets and is a Yamaha Performing Artist
Ben Shafer is a prominent French horn player and teacher in Colorado and Wyoming. He is the professor of horn at Regis University, Principal Horn of the Fort Collins Symphony, and Principal Horn of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. After completing his undergraduate studies in North Carolina, he moved to Colorado to complete his Masters in Horn Performance at the University of Colorado Boulder. Since that time, he has established himself as one of the foremost horn players and teachers in the area. Mr. Shafer regularly performs with nearly every professional orchestra in the area, including the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, Colorado Ballet, Boulder Philharmonic and the Colorado Symphony. Beyond orchestral playing, he enjoys creating projects combining music and social change. His recital “Solely” raised money for the ACLU, and “A Breath of Fresh Air” raised awareness about air quality and mindfulness. On April 15th, 2023, Mr. Shafer was first to perform the Ruth Gipps Horn Concerto in America, as a featured soloist with the Cheyenne Symphony. In addition to playing, he maintains an active private teaching studio across the front range. Beyond music, Mr. Shafer enjoys cooking, meditating, playing board games and spending time in nature.
Nat Wickham’s first musical inspirations were experienced in his childhood home where both parents were professional performers and music teachers, and all four siblings have enjoyed professional careers in music. Today, Wickham is a dynamic trombonist who enjoys a career as a classical and jazz solo artist, recording artist, clinician, adjudicator and educator, and performs throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe.
As a classical artist he performs a wide variety of solo repertoire in recitals and is frequentlyfeatured as guest soloist with professional, university and high school orchestras, wind bands and jazz bands. He was the first-ever soloist with the Ensemble Henri Tomasi in Marseille, France for their inaugural concert. In addition to his solo career, he is 2nd/Associate Principal Trombonist with the Fort Collins Symphony, and was Principal Trombonist with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra for 23 seasons which included several performances as featured soloist. Wickham has also performed with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Ballet, Rochester Philharmonic, Colorado Music Festival, Opera Colorado, Spokane Symphony, and Boulder Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boulder Brass, and for two years he was principal trombonist with the Rochester Broadway Theater League.
Wickham’s work as a jazz artist encompasses the entire spectrum in the genre. Having been resident jazz trombonist and trombone pedagogue at Jazz en Vercors in France, he has toured France on four occasions, performing in major jazz venues and conducting educational workshops. He is in demand as a jazz trombonist throughout the United States, performing and recording with numerous big bands, as well as being invited to be guest soloist with university and high school jazz bands. For six years he was lead trombonist and soloist in the Bob Curnow Big Band and has performed with the Woody Herman Orchestra, Natalie Cole, the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, and countless other jazz artists. As music director and soloist with the Denver Municipal Jazz Band, he leads big band concerts throughout the Denver Metro area. With collaborating artist, Steve Kovalcheck, their trombone/guitar jazz duo has performed at the International Trombone Festival, the Big 12 Trombone Conference, and at local venues and festivals.
Recently retired from 37 years of college teaching, Wickham holds the title Professor of Music, Emeritus from the University of Northern Colorado. While on the faculty, he developed a diverse studio of trombone, bass trombone and euphonium students pursuing bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in both classical and jazz emphases, as well as in music education. Many from his studio hold positions in professional orchestras, military bands and jazz bands, and have been appointed to university and K-12 music teaching positions. Under his baton, UNC trombone ensembles performed at the International Trombone Festival in Nashville, the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, DC, and the Big 12 Trombone Conference in Lubbock, TX. Prior to his position at UNC, Wickham taught at the Eastman School of Music, Eastern Washington University, Central Michigan University, and the University of Wisconsin at River Falls.
Wickham has served on the Board of Directors for the International Trombone Association and has been a frequent performer at International Trombone Association Festivals. He also served on the Resource Team for the International Association for Jazz Education. He earned the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. His Bachelor and Master of Music degrees are from the University of Northern Colorado. He studied trombone with John Marcellus, Buddy Baker, Carl Lobitz and Roy Main. Jazz improvisation and composition teachers have included Buddy Baker, Ramon Ricker, Jiggs Whigham, Bill Dobbins and David Hanson.
Steve Vaughn, a native of upstate New York, is a freelance musician across the front range of Colorado and is currently Adjunct Professor of Euphonium at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO. Equally at home performing on both tuba and euphonium, Steve holds the position of Solo Euphonium with Colorado Brass and Principal Tuba with the Fort Collins Symphony.
Steve received his undergraduate degree in Music Education and Euphonium Performance from Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY), where he studied with Dr. Aaron Tindall. He has a Master of Music degree in Euphonium Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO) studying with Michael Dunn where he also completed a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Tuba Performance and Pedagogy.
Steve has been principal tubist with the Fort Collins Symphony since 2017 and has performed with numerous orchestras across Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico including the Colorado Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, National Repertory Orchestra, Wyoming Symphony, Cheyenne Symphony, San Juan Symphony, and others. While at CU-Boulder he played in the graduate brass quintet which was one of 4 international ensembles accepted into the inaugural American Brass Quintet Seminar at the Aspen Music Festival in 2018.
As a euphoniumist, Steve currently plays with Colorado Brass, a championship-level brass band in Denver, Colorado while also teaching the euphonium students at the University of Northern Colorado. Steve recently performed Blind Spot by Swiss composer Gilles Rocha for the 2021 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference. He has performed with the chamber group Boulder Brass on numerous occasions and has performed orchestral works that include euphonium with many of the ensembles listed above. In 2015 Steve was the first euphonium player to win the Gordon T. Parks Concerto Competition and performed the Euphonium Concerto by Vladimir Cosma with the Arapahoe Philharmonic the following season.
Outside of music Steve enjoys homebrewing, coding, and spending time hiking with his wife Jessica and their pets.
Michael Spiro is a world-renowned percussionist, recording artist, and educator, known specifically for his work in the Latin music field.
Spiro's formal education includes a bachelor's degree with honors in Latin American Studies from the University of California, and three and a half years of graduate work in ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. His practical education consists of a seven- year apprenticeship with Francisco Aguabella (a relationship which continues today) and extensive study throughout Latin America. He has studied annually in Cuba since 1984 with musicians such as Jose Luis Quintana ("Changuito"), Esteban Vega Bacallao ("Cha-Cha"), Daniel Diaz and Juan "Claro" Blanco of Orquesta Ritmo Oriental, Regino Jimenez, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas and Grupo Afro-Cuba de Matanzas. In addition, in 1986, he spent two months training at G.R.E.S. Portela, the famous Escola de Samba in Rio de Janeiro.
Spiro currently resides in San Francisco, Calif., where he is an integral part of the Bay Area music scene. He records and produces with groups throughout the West Coast and still tours world-wide with the percussion trio Talking Drums, which he co-leads with David Garibaldi and Jesus Diaz. In June 1996, his recording Bata-Ketu was released on Bembe Records to international critical acclaim, including being voted one of the top 50 drum records of all time by Drum Magazine.
In 2004, Spiro received a Grammy nomination for his work as both producer and artist on Mark Levine's Latin/jazz release Isla, and, in 2005, he released BataMbira, which he wrote and produced with Professor B. Michael Williams. The CD received rave reviews around the world for its fusion of Afro-Cuban folkloric music with the mbira music of Zimbabwe, and that same year, he was voted runner-up in the jazz/fusion category in Drum Magazine's Reader's Poll Awards. In 2006, Chuck Sher Publications released his book, The Conga Drummer's Guidebook, and it has already become the standard in the field for intermediate/advanced instruction.
He is a frequent visiting artist at universities worldwide. In addition to the position he held in the Jazz Department at the University of California, Berkeley, Spiro has taught at numerous colleges throughout North America and Europe, and continues to be a presenter at national and statewide conventions of the Percussive Arts Society and the International Association of Jazz Educators.
Spiro's recording and performing credits include such diverse artists as David Byrne, Cachao, The Caribbean Jazz Project, Dori Caymmi, Changuito, Richard Egues, Frank Emilio Flynn, Ella Fitzgerald, David Garibaldi, Gilberto Gil, Giovanni Hidalgo, Ray Holman, Toninho Horta, Bobby Hutcherson, Dr.
John, Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge, Machete Ensemble, Bobby McFerrin, Andy Narell, Ray Obiedo, Chico O'Farrill, Eddie Palmieri, Lazaro Ros, David Rudder, Carlos Santana, Grace Slick, Omar Sosa, Talking Drums, Clark Terry, McCoy Tyner and Charlie Watts. In addition, he has recorded on soundtracks to such major motion pictures as Soapdish, Henry and June, True Stories, Sworn To The Drum, Walker, Eddie Macon's Run and Dragon-The Life of Bruce Lee. He also wrote several arrangements for the Tony Award-winning Broadway show BLAST!, which was released on video by PBS in 2002.
Versatile percussionist Carl Dixon is at home with music spanning multiple genres, continents, and instruments. He can be found performing in concert halls, jazz clubs, dance parties, festival stages, and street parades.
Carl teaches percussion and directs the Brazilian Bateria and Latin Jazz percussion ensembles at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He is the Musical Director of the Boulder Samba School and Bateria Alegria, a community based Brazilian drumming ensemble. He teaches private lessons in all areas of percussion and has presented workshops at Indiana University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northern Illinois University, Naropa University, Colorado College, Colorado State University-Pueblo, University of Northern Colorado, the Colorado and Wyoming PAS Days of Percussion, and the California Brazil Camp. In 2022, Carl will serve as guest teacher in residence at the University of Wyoming to start and develop a Brazilian Bateria ensemble. Carl’s arrangements of traditional rhythms found in Brazil’s samba schools and blocos have been performed by university and community ensembles across the country.
As a drumset player and percussionist, he has performed/recorded with the Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Pink Martini, Casuarina, Paula Santoro, Moyseis Marques, Alessandro Penezzi, Ronaldo Andrade, Kailin Yong, Jake Schepps, Ginga, Pat Bianchi, Jeff Jenkins, Dexter Payne, Doug Walter, and nationally touring Broadway musicals. While studying music in Rio de Janeiro, Carl has played with the samba school Salguerio and the bloco Bangalafumenga. Carl’s percussion and oud duo with Derek Wright released their debut album Pairings in 2020.
Carl is the Principal Percussionist of the Central City Opera and Fort Collins Symphony, percussionist with Opera Colorado, regular extra percussionists with the Colorado Ballet and Boulder Philharmonic, and has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and Greeley Philharmonic orchestras.
In 2018, Carl founded Virada Drums, a business that imports and distributes authentic quality percussion instruments from Brazil. Virada Drums serves professional percussionists and students, and regularly assists schools in selecting instruments, planning repertoire, and advising ensemble directors.
Carl received a Master of Music degree in percussion performance from the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he studied with Dr. Douglas Walter and Paul Romaine, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied with Anthony Di Sanza. Other important teachers include Michael Spiro, Mark Lamson, Jorge Alabe, and Mestre Marcão.
A Wisconsin native, Carl spends his free time in the mountains rock climbing, backcountry skiing, and road biking.
