New HOTS Jazz Orchestra

Don Wickham
Trumpet

Don joined the New HOTS Jazz Orchestra shortly after it was organized and has played lead trumpet with the group for the past 16 years. He has played for dances, concerts, festivals, funerals, and parades throughout the Washington/Baltimore metropolitan area; and has toured with the group in France, New Zealand, and Italy.

Don grew up in Miami, Florida where he took his first trumpet lessons beginning in the 6^th grade. He played trumpet with the Miami Jackson High School marching band and Orchestra, performing in the usual football games, parades, and concerts. He also participated in numerous Orange Bowl events, toured throughout the state of Florida and traveled twice to festivals in Havana, Cuba and to Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a 2 1/2 week bi-centennial celebration. He also played trumpet with the “Dixie Cats”, his high school traditional jazz group.

Don graduated from the University of Miami with a BS degree in zoology and psychology, and a MS degree in marine fisheries biology. He also earned an MPA degree from The American University. Don quit playing trumpet completely for about 20 years, as professional demands as a marine fishery biologist and senior program/management analyst with the NOAA, National Marine Fisheries Service, and family responsibilities left little time to maintain his trumpet “chops”.

He had the opportunity to renew his interest in music when his youngest child left for college. After practicing his trumpet in the basement for about a year, he joined the Potomac River Jazz Club and performed with their New Orleans-style parade band. He also began playing with the Herndon Old Time Stompers, which evolved into the HOTS Ragtime Orchestra, which then became the New HOTS Jazz Orchestra.

Don also plays trumpet with the Difficult Run Jazz Band, the Loudoun Jazz Ensemble, and plays flugelhorn and trumpet with the Alte Kameraden German Band.

Don has rather eclectic taste in music, which ranges from ragtime to big band jazz, calypso to salsa, blues to rock, and classical to bluegrass instrumentals. He’s not a fan of reggae, rap, heavy metal, operatic vocals, bluegrass vocals, or middle-eastern music.

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