Born and raised in Mountain View, California, Thomas Hubel joined the Grand Rapids Symphony in 2024 after holding section positions with the Des Moines Metro Opera and the Dubuque Symphony. He earned a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University where he studied with David Bilger, Tom Rolfs, and Michael Sachs, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music in Stockton, California. In recent years, Thomas has given masterclasses at Central Michigan University and Grand Valley State University while also touring as solo cornet with the Chicago Brass Band and rotating principal trumpet with the Chicago Wind Symphony. He was a fellow at the Berlin Opera Academy in 2022, and spent the summers of 2023 & 2024 playing 2nd/utility trumpet with the Des Moines Metro Opera. An avid supporter of music education in the marching arts, Thomas has enjoyed teaching, adjudicating, and giving clinics to marching bands throughout the Midwest and California. He served as Brass Caption Manager of the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets Drum & Bugle Corps from 2019-2022 and as a trumpet technician with the Phantom Regiment Drum & Bugle Corps from 2021-2024. He was a featured soloist with the 7-time DCI world champion Santa Clara Vanguard from 2015 to 2018. Thomas has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Hawaii Theater, Stanford University’s Dinkelspiel Hall, as well as the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and the Take 5 Jazz Club. In his free time, Thomas enjoys cycling, reading Stephen King, and looking for new & creative methods of making coffee.