Travis Peterson joined The Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal trumpet in 2026 after having served as principal trumpet with the Utah Symphony since 2013. He is a proud native of rural Minnesota, having grown up on a dairy farm, far from the concert hall. He attributes his smooth tone quality and warm timbre on the trumpet to all the butter and cheese he consumed throughout his childhood.
While in high school and during his first years in college, Mr. Peterson was also a member of the Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps. After high school, he pursued a degree in music education at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where he studied trumpet with Edmund Cord. After finishing his degree at IU, he received his Graduate Diploma in trumpet performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with Ben Wright and Tom Rolfs, both members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is an alumnus of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, where he was a fellow under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas from 2010 to 2012.
During the 2025–26 season, Mr. Peterson served as the acting associate principal trumpet with The Philadelphia Orchestra. During the summers of 2025 and 2026, he was guest principal trumpet with the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. He has also performed with the String’s Festival in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and the Lakes Area Music Festival in Brainerd, Minnesota. He has performed several times with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, including on its 2015 European Tour. He has also performed as guest principal trumpet with the San Francisco Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and ROCO in Houston, Texas. In past years, he has performed with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Spoleto USA Festival Orchestra, the Artosphere Festival Orchestra, Opera North, the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, and the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego. Previously he was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Utah, and this year will assume that role at Temple University. An active educator, he has led master classes at many institutions including the Manhattan School of Music, Utah Valley University, the University of Central Florida, and the New World Symphony. He has enjoyed curating chamber performances in Salt Lake City and in his hometown for his childhood community and looks forward to doing the same in Philadelphia.
Mr. Peterson resides in Philadelphia with his wife and their Mini Aussiedoodle, Millie.