About the Festival
The Midwest Trumpet Festival was founded in 2009 and brings together leading performers, educators, students, and community for an intensive two days of large and small continuing education sessions, master classes, recitals, and concerts.
Directed by Dr. Todd Hastings, professor of Trumpet at Pittsburg State University, it is held in the stunning Bicknell Family Center for the Arts, designed and constructed by world renowned theater architects.
Past festivals have featured Wayne Bergeron, Julian Kaplan, Louis McFadden, the Romm Family Trio, Jens Lindemann, Joe Burgstaller, and many more acclaimed artists.
2025 Festival Information
William Leathers, a young, gifted musician at the forefront of the classical trumpet music industry.
Born in Canada, the 23-year-old has been praised for the clarity of his trumpet solos and has performed in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and the Caribbean.
A proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, William earned his bachelor’s degree in 2022 and his master’s in 2023.
In 2022, William won the principal trumpet position with both the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic Brass, the Cleveland Orchestra, and served in principal roles with the St. Louis, Toronto, and Philadelphia Symphony Orchestras.
That same year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation named him one of its “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” and he performed with the National Brass Ensemble.
William has also played with the American Brass Quintet, the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival Orchestra.
His recordings include “Deified” by The National Brass Ensemble and the soundtrack for the film “Rustin.”
Whether teaching, performing in recitals, or featured as a soloist, William is in constant demand.
He is a performing artist for Bach Brass and is collaborating with Vennture Mouthpieces on a signature line of trumpet mouthpieces.
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Tim Wootton
Tim Wootton maintains an active schedule as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, and educator.
As an orchestral musician, Tim is Principal Trumpet of the Springfield (MO) Symphony Orchestra, Principal Trumpet of the Ozarks Lyric Opera, and a member of the trumpet section of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA). He has performed with the Kansas City Symphony, Tulsa Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic, Krakow Chamber Orchestra, Missouri Philharmonic, and other orchestras across the Midwest and Southwest.
As a chamber musician, he is a member of the Springfield Symphony Brass Quintet and the Evangel University Faculty Brass Quintet. He has performed with the Missouri State University Faculty Brass Quintet, Symphony of Northwest Arkansas Brass Quintet, Springfield Chamber Brass, Classic Brass, Phoenix Chamber Brass, and the Phoenician Brass Quintet, among others.
As a soloist, he was a prizewinner in the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition in Bangkok, Thailand, a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist Competition, and a winner of the band and orchestra solo competitions at Missouri State University. As a recitalist, he gave the world premieres of the Michael “Bear” Schwartz – “Trumpet Sonata in Three Movements” and “Portraits of Masada.”
As an educator, Tim is on the music faculty of Evangel University, where he teaches applied trumpet, brass methods, and conducts the brass ensemble. He was on the music faculty at Southwest Baptist University for over a decade and served as Artist-in-Residence (trumpet) at Missouri State University. He also maintains a private studio.
Tim’s teachers include David Hickman, Grant Peters, Charlie Geyer, Ray Mase, Kevin Cobb, and John Shows.
Jeff Curtin
Jeff Curtin grew up in Kettering, Ohio, and began playing the trumpet at age 10. Since then, he has performed in venues across the United States and appeared with orchestras in Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and Kansas. From 2009 to 2014, he served as trumpet instructor at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma.
Jeff is a featured soloist for Mecum Auto Auctions on the NBC Sports Network and was a founding member of the Boulevard Brass Quintet, which appeared in the 2014 motion picture Rudderless, directed by William H. Macy.
Now based in Olathe, Kansas, Jeff is the owner and operator of the Curtin Trumpet Academy and teaches at several schools in the Olathe and Blue Valley districts. He holds a BMA and MM in Trumpet Performance from the University of Oklahoma and a DMA in Trumpet Performance from the UMKC Conservatory.
