UGA percussion student wins 2018 National Collegiate Solo Competition

The University of Georgia’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music has some of the finest musicians in the country, which has been proven yet again by a recent award announcement by The United States Army Band. Percussion performance Master’s student Trevor Barroero is the winner of the 2018 National Collegiate Solo Competition hosted by The United States Army Band "Pershing's Own.”

Talented college-age musicians compete each year to perform as a soloist with "Pershing's Own.” As the winner of the competition, The United States Army Band will fly Trevor to Washington D.C. where he will be featured performing the 2nd movement of Emmanuel Sejourne’s “Concerto for Marimba” with them on Friday, June 8th, 2018.

Trevor is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Hodgson School and is pursuing a Master’s in Percussion Performance under Professors Timothy K. Adams and Kimberly Toscano Adams. He also serves as the Percussion Coordinator for MidFest and JanFest, two of the music-intensive events hosted each year by the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. 

A native of Tucson, Arizona, Trevor’s road to UGA first began at the University of Arizona where he was doing his undergraduate studies in Percussion Performance as an Arizona Flinn Scholar. While there, Trevor studied under Kim Adams, who he also studied privately with during high school. In 2013, Kim made the move to UGA to teach alongside her husband, Tim Adams. Having already learned so much from her, Trevor decided to enroll in the National Student Exchange Program and temporarily transferred toUGA. After an additional year at UGA, Trevor finished his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona. Trevor’s choice to stay at UGA longer, and ultimately to return for his Master’s study, was also due in large part to the formation of his percussion trio, Lineage Percussion. “I knew that by staying in Georgia for an additional year, we could pursue additional opportunities and continue to grow musically as a professional ensemble,” he said.

This turned out to be a good decision as the Lineage Percussion Trio (featuring Barroero, and fellow UGA graduates Wesley Sumpter and Lauren Floyd) became the first Percussion Ensemble in the history of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition to be medalists in the senior division, where they took home the bronze medal in 2016.

Trevor is no stranger to concerto competitions, having competed in his first one in the 8th grade under the tutelage of percussionist Brian Harris who encouraged him to perform “Mayzumi's Concertino for Xylophone” for the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra's annual concerto competition.

“Back then, I had absolutely no idea that my participation in those competitions would eventually lead to opportunities to travel around the world,” says Barroero. Some such opportunities led him to be featured as a soloist on marimba in Canada and to play as a guest timpanist with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra of Russia.

These international experiences helped prepare Trevor for the rush of performing for a full house during this year’s JanFest where Trevor performed the same arrangement with the Hodgson Wind Ensemble that he will be performing with “Pershing’s Own.” When discussing the thrill of the evening, he said: “It's the closest I've felt to being an actual rock star.” Trevor is the first student to have won both UGA's Orchestra and UGA’s Wind Ensemble concerto competitions.  

Outside of percussion performance, Trevor has been involved with martial arts since he was 4 years old. He says that the study of martial arts with his instructor, Shihan Johnny Linebarger, helped give him the “patience, discipline, and appreciation for practice and training” that would later become driving factors in his musical successes. Trevor also enjoys dance and theater. “My involvement in dance and the theater arts certainly taught me the importance of feeling - rather than just hearing - music and the importance of fully embodying musical emotion and expression,” says Barroero. Speaking to the influence his late father’s musical career had on his own decision to start in the music field, Trevor says: “I’ve made it my mission to use music to empower, inspire, and positively affect others.”

The outdoor concert where Trevor will be soloing is set to take place on Friday, June 8th at 8:00PM in Washington D.C. on the West Side of the U.S. Capitol Building. Admission is free and open to the public. To learn more about Trevor and keep up with his accomplishments, you can visit his website at trevorbarroero.com.