International Trumpet Guild

The International Trumpet Guild (ITG) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt professional and educational association devoted to the trumpet and the people who study, perform, teach, research, manufacture, publish, and support it. Although it is not a consumer brand or an instrument manufacturer, the Guild functions as a recognizable institutional brand within the global trumpet community. Its membership spans professional and amateur performers, music educators, students, scholars, instrument makers, publishers, and enthusiasts. ITG was established in 1975. Its first conference took place that year in Bloomington, Indiana, creating the foundation for an annual event around which the organization’s international activities developed. In 1976, the Guild participated in the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland. Annual conferences have continued as a central part of the organization’s identity, providing forums for performances, master classes, lectures, research presentations, exhibitions, competitions, and professional networking. The Guild’s conference activity has also connected academic institutions, conservatories, performers, and the commercial instrument and publishing sectors. A major part of ITG’s public value is its publishing and information program. Membership includes the quarterly ITG Journal, which covers trumpet history, performance practice, repertoire, recordings, pedagogy, physiology, interviews, instrument modification, and research. The Journal also reviews books, music, and recordings and provides a continuing record of developments in trumpet culture. The organization has issued or sponsored additional materials, including special journal supplements, recordings, music, books, journal indexes, historical studies, memoirs, and discographic work. These publications give ITG a role in preserving specialist knowledge as well as distributing current professional and educational information. The Guild also supports research infrastructure. In 1982, the ITG Archive was established at Western Michigan University to document the organization’s activities and preserve historical trumpet-related research. The associated ITG Research Library serves as a lending resource for trumpet scholarship and related study. This archival and library work extends ITG beyond event management: it positions the association as a custodian of the instrument’s history, literature, pedagogy, and performance traditions. ITG’s international development included efforts to build a stronger European presence. Planning began in 1988, and the Euro-ITG chapter was formed in autumn 1990 at Trumpet Days in Bad Säckingen, Germany, initially with 120 members. An International Membership Coordinator was appointed to support further growth. The Euro-ITG chapter was later disbanded in 2003, but the Guild’s broader international orientation remains reflected in its name, membership base, conferences, competitions, publications, and professional network. Education and recognition are other core areas. ITG hosts annual competitions for musicians under 28, including scholarship, solo trumpet, orchestral excerpt, and jazz solo competitions. It also sponsors the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition, held every four years, and the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, held every two years. Through these activities, the organization supports emerging musicians while connecting them with established performers and teachers. The Guild recognizes distinguished contributors through the ITG Honorary Award and the ITG Award of Merit. Honorary Award recipients have included influential figures from classical, jazz, popular, educational, research, and manufacturing contexts. The Honorary Award is generally associated with people whose careers have made an extraordinary contribution to trumpet playing through performance, teaching, publishing, research, composition, or related work. The Award of Merit recognize…

The International Trumpet Guild was founded in 1975 as an international organization for people connected with trumpet performance, education, research, manufacture, publishing, and enthusiastic study. Its first conference was held in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1975. The following year, the Guild met in connection with the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland. These early events established the conference as a principal mechanism for bringing together performers, teachers, students, scholars, and industry participants. Annual conferences became a continuing institutional tradition. The Guild’s conference history includes a connection with the Second International Brass Congress, held at Indiana University in 1984. Conferences have served multiple purposes: presenting concerts and lectures, sharing pedagogical and scholarly work, exhibiting instruments and publications, conducting competitions, and developing professional relationships across national and musical boundaries. In 1982, ITG created its Archive at Western Michigan University. The archive was intended to document the Guild’s activities and preserve research concerning the trumpet. The ITG Research Library developed as a lending collection for trumpet-related research, giving members and researchers access to materials that might otherwise be dispersed among private collections, institutions, and specialist publications. This work helped define the Guild as a historical and scholarly institution as well as a membership association. The organization expanded its international structure during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Planning for a larger European component began in 1988. In autumn 1990, the Euro-ITG chapter was established during Trumpet Days in Bad Säckingen, Germany, with an initial membership of 120 people. An International Membership Coordinator was appointed to encourage wider participation in ITG. The Euro-ITG chapter was ultimately disbanded in 2003, although the wider Guild continued to operate internationally through its members, events, competitions, publications, and professional contacts. Publishing has remained central to the Guild’s mission. The ITG Journal is issued quarterly and addresses a broad range of subjects, including trumpet history, performance, repertoire, recordings, research, teaching, physiology, interviews, instrument changes, and reviews of books, music, and recordings. Membership also includes access to special supplements and periodic journal indexing. ITG has sponsored or supported additional publications and reprints, including historical work on trumpets used by Bach and Handel, memoir material relating to Timofei Dokshizer, and an international trumpet discography. Recognition programs form another important part of the organization’s history. The ITG Honorary Award recognizes extraordinary contributions to trumpet playing through performance, teaching, publishing, research, composition, or related activity. The award is not necessarily presented every year and has traditionally emphasized established career achievement. Its recipients have included figures such as Roger Voisin, Maurice André, Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Miles Davis, Herb Alpert, Maynard Ferguson, Philip Smith, Bobby Shew, and Ryan Anthony, among many others. The ITG Award of Merit recognizes substantial contributions to trumpet playing or meaningful support for the Guild’s objectives. Earlier recognition plaques and honorary memberships also acknowledged notable contributors before the formal award structures were established. Competitions expanded the Guild’s educational and career-development role. ITG has sponsored annual competitions for musicians under 28, including scholarship, solo trumpet, orchestral excerpt, and jazz solo categories. It also established recurring international competitions with different cycles: the Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition takes place every four years, while the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition takes place every two years. Together, these programs give young and emerging musicians opportunities for evaluation, exposure, and advancement. The available reference material does not identify a founder, current executive leadership, permanent headquarters, membership count, annual budget, or current organizational subsidiaries. ITG is described as a dues-supported, tax-exempt nonprofit organization rather than a publicly traded company. Its historical identity is therefore best understood through its community infrastructure: conferences, journals, competitions, awards, archives, research access, and international membership.

1. 2003Euro-ITG chapter disbanded

   The Euro-ITG chapter was discontinued after more than a decade of operation.

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2. 1990Euro-ITG chapter formed

   The Euro-ITG chapter was formed at Trumpet Days in Bad Säckingen, Germany, with an initial membership of 120.

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3. 1988European expansion planning begins

   Plans were initiated to develop a larger European component of the Guild.

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4. 1984Second International Brass Congress at Indiana University

   The Guild’s conference history included the Second International Brass Congress, held at Indiana University.

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5. 1982ITG Archive established

   An archive was established at Western Michigan University to preserve Guild records and trumpet-related historical research.

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6. 1976Participation in the First International Brass Congress

   The Guild met as part of the First International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland.

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7. 1975Guild established and first conference held

   The International Trumpet Guild was established, and its first conference was held in Bloomington, Indiana.

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A global nonprofit professional and educational association for the trumpet community, combining performance opportunities, scholarship, publishing, competitions, archival preservation, and recognition of achievement.

• ITG JournalProfessional publication

  The ITG Journal is the Guild’s quarterly publication and covers trumpet history, performance, repertoire, recordings, research, pedagogy, physiology, interviews, instrument modification, and related subjects. It also includes reviews of books, music, and recordings. The Journal serves both as a current professional resource and as a continuing record of trumpet scholarship and practice.

• ITG Archive and Research LibraryResearch resource1982

  Established through the Guild’s archival and library work, these resources preserve records of ITG activity and provide access to trumpet-related historical and scholarly material. The research library functions as a lending resource, supporting researchers, teachers, students, and others investigating the instrument and its traditions.

• Annual ITG ConferenceProfessional event1975

  The annual conference is the Guild’s principal recurring gathering. It brings together performers, educators, students, researchers, manufacturers, publishers, and enthusiasts through concerts, presentations, master classes, exhibitions, competitions, and professional exchange. The conference tradition began with the inaugural 1975 meeting in Bloomington, Indiana.

• ITG CompetitionsMusic competition program

  ITG supports annual competitions for musicians under 28, including scholarship, solo trumpet, orchestral excerpt, and jazz solo categories. The Guild also sponsors the four-year Ellsworth Smith International Trumpet Solo Competition and the two-year Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition.

• 1988Develop a larger European componentStrategy

  The Guild sought to strengthen its international structure and participation in Europe.

  What changed. ITG began planning for a European component, leading to the creation of Euro-ITG in 1990.

  Aftermath. The Euro-ITG chapter later disbanded in 2003, while ITG continued its broader international activities.

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1. International Trumpet Guild
2. International Trumpet Guild official website