Dr. Eric Yates serves on the faculty of the University of Alabama as the Trumpet Professor at The University of Alabama School of Music in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is Principal Trumpet of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, First Trumpet in The University of Alabama Faculty Brass Quintet, and an in-demand soloist and clinician. Dr. Yates earned his Doctor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance from the trumpet studio at Northwestern University's School of Music in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

Before his appointment in 2007 as trumpet professor at The University of Alabama, Dr. Yates was an active performer and teacher in the Chicago area, serving as Principal Trumpet of the Northbrook Symphony and a member of professional brass ensembles including the Chicago Brass Choir, the Lakeside Brass of Chicago, of which he was a founding member, the Cathedral Brass, and the Prairie Brass Band in which he held the position of Principal Solo Cornet. Dr. Yates also served on the faculties of Lake Forest College Department of Music and Wright City College Department of Fine Arts in Chicago. His performance career has included engagements with numerous professional orchestras in the United States including the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, the Nashville Symphony, the South Bend Symphony, the Illinois Symphony, the Elmhurst Symphony, and the Northwest Indiana Symphony. Dr. Yates also continues to perform regularly as a recitalist and featured soloist with concert bands, brass bands, and orchestras. In 2009, he performed as a featured guest artist at the 7th Annual Romantic Trumpet Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Originally from New York, Dr. Yates earned his undergraduate degree in Trumpet Performance from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee before relocating to Chicago in 1995 to pursue graduate study at Northwestern University. His principal teachers include Charlie Geyer, Barbara Butler, Vincent Cichowicz, and Gary Armstrong. Dr. Yates' trumpet performance skills and experience encompass all aspects of classical trumpet playing, from modern symphonic, chamber, and solo playing to authentic period performance on historic natural trumpets. He is a Courtois Performing Artist.