Author: John-Thomas Burson

John Thomas Burson, Atlanta-based trumpeter and entrepreneur, has pursued his passion for music across a diversity of genres and arenas, including performances with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, Georgia Brass Band, Harrower Opera Institute, and Spectacle Brass, of which he is a founding member. In 2014, he was the winner of the International Trumpet Guild Sonare Pro Brass Scholarship. Burson’s devotion to chamber music has been an integral part of the strategic expansion of Atlanta’s own Spectacle Brass. Over several years, the brass quintet has broken into the national scene, performing at Michigan’s Bay View Music Festival and alongside the Boston Brass during the 2013 Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. The group recently received an invitation to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Convention and was a finalist in the Calvin Smith Brass Quintet Competition in Knoxville, Tennessee. Committed to outreach, Spectacle Brass collaborated with a local high school to present the Suite from Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and presented a benefit program for Children’s Healthcare of Augusta, Georgia. During his study at Metro Atlanta’s Kennesaw State University, Burson studied with Thomas Hooten of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Karin Bliznik of the St. Louis Symphony, Michael Tiscione of the Atlanta Symphony, and Georgia Brass Band Solo Cornetist Dr. Douglas Lindsey. John Thomas has attended the Sewanee Summer Music Festival, the YMF Balmat National Orchestra Institute, the Bay View Music Festival, and the Boston Brass Summer Music Clinic at Western State Colorado University. For two consecutive years, he was selected as Principal Trumpet in the Georgia Music Educators Association All-College Band in Savannah, Georgia. He was also a finalist in the National Brass Symposium Orchestral Excerpts Competition. Performing in venues such as the Cobb Energy Centre, Gwinnett Performing Arts Centre, Bailey Performance Center, and Spivey Hall, Mr. Burson also teaches trumpet as an instructor at the West Georgia Arts Conservatory. With an interest in the new music scene, John Thomas is currently working on a project recording the brass chamber music of William Funk. He is also actively arranging music for brass quintet to present in collaboration with Spectacle Brass. Mr. Burson performs on Yamaha, Bach, and Schilke trumpets. For more information, please visit his website and blog, johnthomasburson.com, or the website of Spectacle Brass, spectaclebrass.com. [2014]