Mark Clodfelter hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is currently one of the most active performers in the Southeast and can be heard as Principal Trumpet of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra and the Trade Winds (Tamp Fl.) as well as split lead with the DiMartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra (DOJO) and the Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra. Mark is a founding member and guest artist with the Giannini Brass and is a Yamaha Performing Artist. In addition he is currently Co-Conductor of the Blue Grass Area Jazz Ambassadors.

As a soloist, Mark has appeared throughout the United States, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland, with orchestras, organists, wind ensembles, brass ensembles, and jazz bands. He has recorded extensively in styles ranging from classical to rock including the 2004 Grammy Nominated “Self Contained” with the UK Jazz Ensemble. He has appeared with such headliners as The O' Jays, Gladys Knight, Mannheim Steam Roller, the Moody Blues, Doc Severinson, Bob Mintzer, Lou Rawls, and Ray Charles. Recent solo appearances have included the World Premier of Lawrence Bitensky’s revision of “Awake You Sleepers” for trumpet and wind ensemble, tours and concerts with the UK Jazz Ensembles, soloist with The Saxton’s Cornet Band at the Great American Brass Band Festival and the acclaimed Chautauqua Music Festival, and solo appearances at the 2003, 04 and 05 Kentucky Music Educators Conventions. Additionally Mark was featured at the 2005 Florida and Southern Division MENC Convention in Tampa as well as the 2005 Tennessee Music Educators Convention in Nashville.

Mark is Professor of Trumpet at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. Prior to this appointment he was Instructor of Trumpet and Director of the Jazz Band as a member of the faculty at Mars Hill College. From 1996- 2005 he spent summers playing Lead Trumpet for the Flat Rock Playhouse, the state theatre of North Carolina. In 1996 he served on the faculty of the prestigious Eastern Music Festival as a member of the Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra and chamber music coach. Mark has also held positions with the Greensboro Symphony, the Western Piedmont Symphony, the Salisbury Symphony, the Greenville (SC) Symphony, and from 1999 through 2002, served as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Smoky Mountain Brass Band.

Mr. Clodfelter holds a Bachelor of Music Education Degree from Lenoir-Rhyne College. While earning his Master of Music Degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Mark received a fellowship as Lead trumpet for the NCSA Jazz Ensemble where he also served as co-principal trumpet for the NCSA Orchestra, and was a winner of the 1990 International Music Program Concerto Competition.

Sought after as a clinician, Mark makes numerous appearances annually as guest adjudicator, instructor, and soloist nationally at both the High School and Collegiate level. He has written and developed educational programs among which are the Brass Builders Clinics and the acclaimed Science of Sound interdisciplinary presentation. In 1991 he was appointed to the North Carolina Resident Artist roster and continues to pursue educational endeavors through schools, communities, and an active private studio.

Mark plays Yamaha trumpets and Curry mc Mouthpieces.