Phillip Chase Hawkins

Growing up on a farm outside of Spartanburg SC, Dr. Phillip Chase Hawkins serves as Principal Trumpet with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2013. He is also a member of the cornet section in Fountain City Brass Band and is an active performer on historical instruments as a member of Kentucky Baroque Trumpets and Saxton’s Cornet Band. Hawkins can also be heard as a performing and recording artist for the Nashville Music Scoring Studio and Sound Lair Studio. His previously held positions include Visiting Professor of Trumpet at Centre College and Interim Professor of Trumpet at the University of Kentucky.

Hawkins has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Le Château de la Voix Baroque Orchestra, and others. He has appeared as guest soloist with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival and the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. Hawkins has performed in concert halls and recital venues throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Receiving several awards and achievements in solo competitions, Hawkins has gained both national and international recognition. In 2014, Hawkins won first prize in the Grand Valley State University International Solo Trumpet Competition. In 2013, Hawkins took first prize at the NABBA Solo Competition in the high lyric category. In 2012, he was the first-place winner of the National Trumpet Competition in the Graduate division, having taken second place in 2011, as well as winning first place in the National Brass Symposium Solo Competition. And in 2010, Hawkins was selected as a top 10 finalist in the Prague Spring International Solo Competition in Prague Czech Republic.

Hawkins holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and both Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, Hawkins received the distinguished Performer’s Certificate, was the inaugural recipient of the Sidney Mear Trumpet Prize, and was a Howard Hanson Scholarship recipient for academic merit.