Grand Valley trumpeter wins international acclaim

A recent Grand Valley State University graduate, Alex Wilson, from Belleville, Mich., has won First Place at the International Trumpet Guild Orchestra Competition, held this year in Sydney, Australia.

Wilson, who graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in music, had previously won 2nd prize in the 2010 National Trumpet College Solo Competition and was a member of Grand Valley's 2008 National Championship Trumpet Ensemble, under the direction of Richard Stoelzel, associate professor of trumpet. Wilson will be attending graduate school at Arizona State University in the fall, studying under the legendary trumpet teacher David Hickman.

Ten Grand Valley students have made it into the finals of this prestigious competition since 2002. Previous first place winners from Grand Valley include Steven Marx in 2002, who was recently named assistant professor of trumpet at Colorado State University, and Jeff Lewandowski in 2007, who is currently a scholarship student in the graduate program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.