Wyeth Aleksei, originally from Laurel, Maryland, has had a multifaceted career as an orchestral musician, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator. It all started from his earliest memory as a child, listening to Georges Bizet’s “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” from his opera Carmen. He always wanted to play the trumpet or saxophone. When the opportunity arose to play one of them at the age of 9, he ultimately chose to play the trumpet. Then by the age of 15, he was performing “call to the post” at racetracks from Colonial Williamsburg to New York City. He knew from then on that he wanted to be a performer on the trumpet. Mr. Aleksei graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory in 2017 with a Bachelor of Music degree and continued at the Juilliard School to receive a Master’s of Music degree. During his time at Juilliard, he was awarded a Graduate Assistantship with the head of the brass department, Mr. Raymond Mase. His principal teachers have included Christopher Martin, Mark Gould, Roy Poper, and Michael Sachs. Beginning in the Fall of 2021, Mr. Aleksei will begin a Graduate Performance Diploma at the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University. He will be working with Mr. William Gerlach, Principal Trumpet of the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, DC.
Mr. Aleksei can be heard on both Oberlin Music Label and Naxos Music Label on albums, including Billy Drew’s Under One Sun, Yolanda Kondonasis’s Ginastera: One Hundred, and on a numerous National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic’s American Classics series albums. One of the albums, RUGGLES, STUCKY & HARBISON: ORCHESTRAL WORKS, was nominated for Best Orchestral Performance for the 62nd GRAMMYⓇ Awards. As an orchestral musician, Mr. Aleksei performs with some of the top orchestras today, including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Richmond Symphony and Ballet, and others. He’s also played on legendary concert stages, including Alice Tulley, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Metropolitan Opera House, and Symphony Center in Chicago.
As a student at Oberlin, Mr. Aleksei’s eyes opened up to a whole new world of musical opportunities. He played in the Oberlin Orchestra and Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, and the internationally acclaimed Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble (CME) under the direction of Timothy Weiss. During his time as a student, he was a soloist with the Oberlin Brass Ensemble and CME. At Juilliard, he enrolled in American Brass Quintet Seminar and formed the brass quintet, AES V., which performed many concerts in New York City. During the Bernstein at 100 global celebrations in 2019, Mr. Aleksei and AES V worked closely with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Justin Peck to create a world premiere ballet performance. The performance used Leonard Bernstein’s brass quintet composition, Dance Suite, each movement dedicated to one of his ballet friends, including Baryshnikov. While in school, he participated in many summer festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival and School, Eastern Music Festival, Marrowstone Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute and Festival, and the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute.
Over the years, Mr. Aleksei has also been a very passionate teacher. He’s had a private trumpet studio since 2013, and his students have included many trumpeters of all ages. His students have auditioned and successfully placed at local all-district band/orchestra and all-state and summer music festivals. His students have auditioned and accepted offers from music schools across the US, including the University of Maryland and Rutgers University. Mr. Aleksei believes that all students are different and that all students should learn in whatever way best fits the student. Along with his private trumpet studio, Mr. Aleksei is one of the founding teachers with the online music lesson service, Virtu.Academy. Mr. Aleksei is also the Brass Expert and teaches at the Music and Arts location in Olney, MD.