Josh Gilbert '16 Yamaha Award

NEC congratulates trumpet player Josh Gilbert ’16, a Lexington native, who recently won a prestigious Yamaha Young Performing Artists award and joined 10 other winners June 22—24 at an all-expenses-paid weekend retreat at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. While there, he participated in workshops and a concert. Many past winners—including Boston Symphony Orchestra trumpet and NEC faculty Benjamin Wright— have gone on to establish successful music careers.

Gilbert has been studying trumpet since the age of ten. He is currently pursuing a degree in jazz studies at NEC, where he studies with jazz legend John McNeil and former Boston Symphony Orchestra member Steve Emery. He is a member of the NEC Jazz Orchestra, which recently performed with Ran Blake, Miguel Zenón and Randy Weston. Gilbert graduated in 2012 from Lexington High School, where he performed in several award-winning jazz and classical ensembles. During high school, Gilbert also performed in small jazz ensembles at the NEC Preparatory School and was a member of the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble, where he toured Germany in 2010 and Poland in 2012.

In addition to becoming a Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Josh’s other musical accomplishments and awards include being named as an outstanding soloist at the 2012 Charles Mingus Festival, the 2012 Berklee High School Jazz Festival and the 2011 University of New Hampshire Jazz Festival, as well as second trumpet in the 2012 Massachusetts All-State Jazz Band.