Ansel Norris joined The Florida Orchestra as associate principal/utility trumpet in the 2021-22 season.  He has gathered acclaim throughout the world as a soloist and orchestral musician of diverse taste and enthusiasm. His sound has been heard on NPR’s Performance Today, From the Top, and on Medici.tv, as the first-ever American prizewinner in the International Tchaikovsky Competition’s Brass division. He was also twice named first prize in the National Trumpet Competition USA.

Before joining TFO, Norris held positions in the Naples Philharmonic and the New World Symphony of Miami Beach, where he was named a winner of the Concerto Competition 2018. Ansel has played as guest principal trumpet with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony and the San Diego Symphony, among others. He splits his summers between Brainerd, Minn., with the Lakes Area Music Festival, and his home town of Madison, Wis.

Ansel received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and later studied at Rice University, both with his wonderful mentors, Barbara Butler and Charlie Geyer. He also has studied with Stephen Burns, Thomas Rolfs, John Aley and Christopher Martin, among many others.

In his free time, Ansel enjoys basketball, reading, exploring, improvising and writing his own music. Since 2020 Ansel has been a member of the band Gravity the Architect, which combines the organic sound of acoustic instruments with modern pop textures and beats.