Benjamin Hay, Trumpet

Benjamin Hay is a trumpeter and educator based in northeastern Oklahoma. Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance), the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance), and the University of Oklahoma (D.M.A. Performance). He currently serves as Chair of the Department of Music and Associate Professor of Music (Trumpet/Theory) at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Prior to his appointment at NSU, Dr. Hay served as Adjunct Instructor of Music at Tulsa Community College, where he taught applied trumpet, applied horn, music theory, jazz improvisation, jazz combo, and chamber brass.

Ben performs as principal trumpet of Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa’s Starlight Concert Band, as well as Tulsa’s Signature Symphony. He frequently performs with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Additional performances include appearances with Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Gateway Chamber Orchestra (Clarksville, TN), Fountain City Brass Band (Kansas City, MO), and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, Dr. Hay traveled with Fountain City Brass Band on their tour of the United Kingdom, which culminated in performances at Brass in Concert at the Glasshouse International Music Centre. A frequent recitalist, Dr. Hay has performed guest solo recitals in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and Illinois. In 2018, Dr. Hay performed at the International Trumpet Guild Regional Conference in Oklahoma City, as well as at the ITG Conference in San Antonio, TX. Ben has performed as a soloist with the Signature Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa’s Starlight Band, and Southeast Kansas Symphony, as well as numerous high school and college ensembles. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Tulsa Camerata, the faculty brass quintets of the University of New Mexico and Northeastern State University, and the brass quintets of Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa Symphony. He is currently a member of several chamber brass groups including Zen Brass and Altus Trumpet Ensemble. As a jazz and commercial musician, Ben has performed with Tulsa’s Signature Symphony Big Band, Tulsa’s Starlight Big Band, King Cabbage Brass Band, as well as numerous national Broadway tours, local pit orchestras, and rock bands. Dr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of the world’s top performers such as JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Zander, Eric Whitacre, Michael Daugherty, the Irish Tenors, Bernadette Peters, The Four Tops, Marie Osmond, Hanson, Mannheim Steamroller, Rickey Minor, and Johnny Mathis.

Ben’s primary trumpet teachers have been Andrew Cheetham, Jacob Walburn, Thomas Booth, John Marchiando, and Karl Sievers. Dr. Hay serves a music reviewer and conference reporter for the ITG Journal, and is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).

Benjamin Hay is a Conn-Selmer/Vincent Bach Endorsing Artist.