The Trumpet Festival of the Southeast is a celebration of trumpet playing and teaching in the southeastern region of the United States. 2010's inaugural festival, hosted by Trumpet Professor Eric Yates at The University of Alabama, brought guest artists including Philip Smith of the New York Philharmonic, Tom Hooten of the Atlanta Symphony, Composer and pianist Joseph Turrin, Jazz Trumpeter and Clinician Pat Harbison, and pianist Rebecca Wilt. Participants at the festival came from the states of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Mississippi, and Florida.

The Trumpet Festival of the Southeast is the continuing evolution of a long-standing and highly recognized regional trumpet gathering, the Western Carolina Trumpet Festival hosted by Professor Bradley Ulrich through January 2009. For 2010, the festival was reinvented as a wide-reaching trumpet event for the southeastern United States, hosted by Trumpet Professor Eric Yates at The University of Alabama.

Guest Artists for the 2010 Festival will be Philip Smith of the NY Philharmonic with Composer and Pianist Joe Turrin and Jazz Artist and Clinician Pat Harbison. Past guest artists at the WCU Trumpet Festival have included Allen Vizzutti, Chris Martin, Bobby Shew, Paul Merkelo, Malcolm McNab, Vincent DiMartino, and many others.

There is a rich tradition of fine trumpet playing in the southeast, supported today by a vibrant professional community in several major metropolitan areas and many colleges and universities with strong music programs. The Trumpet Festival of the Southeast is proud to highlight the fine trumpet playing and teaching in our region.