Dr. Eric Yates is the trumpet professor at the University of Alabama School of Music, principal trumpet of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, first trumpet of the Alabama Brass Quintet, and a founding member of the internationally-touring Fortress Brass.

An in-demand soloist and clinician, Dr. Yates has appeared throughout the United States and around the world, having performed in England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Cuba, the Republic of Georgia, and numerous times in Russia where he has presented recitals and master classes at the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories seven times since 2009. He has appeared at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana, Cuba; the American University of Rome, Italy; the Tbilisi State Conservatory in Georgia; and at numerous institutions in the U.S., including Northwestern University, Yale, NYU, the University of Georgia, Furman University, Mississippi State University, Western Carolina University, and many others.

Eric Yates has hosted the Trumpet Festival of the Southeast regional conference at The University of Alabama three times and serves on its board of directors, and he has judged several years for the National Trumpet Competition. He has toured with the award-winning Fountain City Brass Band of Kansas City, MO, served two years as Principal Solo Cornet of the Prairie Brass Band of Arlington Heights, IL, and has engaged in numerous tours throughout the U.S. and abroad as member and co-founder of the Fortress Brass.

Yates's performance career has included engagements with many professional orchestras in the United States including the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the South Bend Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony, and the Nashville Symphony, and he performs regularly with the Alabama (Birmingham) Symphony Orchestra in addition to serving as principal trumpet of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra since 2007.