Gavin Wells

Gavin was born in London but grew up in the USA. Having initially decided to take up the trumpet because it was lighter to carry than his brother’s tenor saxophone, he then found that he couldn’t put it down and continued through the American wind band and stage band traditions. He went on to study trumpet performance at the University of Northern Colorado under William Pfund, and later received his M.Mus degree from the Florida State University.

In the USA Gavin was a member of the Rocky Mountain Brass Quintet, the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and the Disneyland Show band, and has backed many notable jazz greats such as Allen Vizzutti, Clark Terry, Bobby Shew, Jon Faddis, and Doc Severinsen. He was also heavily involved in vocal jazz studies at UNC and performed and recorded with the vocal jazz quartet the Axidentals who were nominated for a Grammy Award.

In 1986 he won the International Trumpet Guild Solo Competition held in London. Settling in England in 1989 he now enjoys a busy freelance career, performing regularly with the Bath Philharmonia, and the Bristol Ensemble who he has worked with since the early 1990s. He has recorded for BBC television and radio and has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Gavin has given recitals in Gloucester Cathedral and Bath Abbey with organists David Briggs and Peter King, and as part of the Three Choirs Festival in 1998, 2004, and 2007. As a soloist he has performed the concertos of Bach, Vivaldi, Haydn, Hummel, Neruda, Tomasi, Arutunian, Copland’s Quiet City, and Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Strings. With the Bristol Ensemble he regularly performs Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.2 and has recorded concertos by Telemann, Mudge, and Vivaldi. He can also be heard on numerous recordings with the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum on the Signum and Delphian labels.

To escape the usual delightful noises Gavin enjoys being outdoors and is a Director of a local fly fishing association. He can otherwise be found keeping his Jack Russell terrier and a large garden under relatively close control.