MEET THE 2022 FACULTY
FACULTY BIOS
Trumpet artist and educator, Dr. Brianne Borden is on faculty at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam as Visiting Assistant Professor of Trumpet. She is a member of the Potsdam Brass Quintet, the Nova Trumpet Collective, and performs regularly with the Orchestra of Northern New York. Preceding Potsdam, Borden taught for the Phoenix Conservatory of Music, Harmony Project Phoenix, the University of Colorado Summer Academy, as well as maintained a vibrant private studio.
Having an active performance schedule, Borden presents recitals and masterclasses at numerous universities and conferences nationally and internationally. She has led clinics for schools and organizations such as the Colburn Conservatory, Ithaca College, University of North Carolina Greensboro, University of Northern Arizona, and multiple International Trumpet Guild Conferences. Borden's guest artist performances include the University of North Dakota, the Hawaii Youth Symphony Orchestra, Arizona State University, and she was a featured soloist for the opening concert of the 2019 International Women's Brass Conference.
An advocate for wellness within the classical music community, Borden teaches a Musicians' Wellness class at Crane and has researched heavily in the field. Prior to her arrival at Potsdam, she has served as Instructor for a weekly class titled Movement for Musicians at Arizona State University, as well as Instructor of Yoga for Musicians at the University of Colorado. Borden's wellness expertise is centered in the realms of performance anxiety, musculoskeletal health, trauma-informed mindfulness, and the practical application of yoga techniques. In addition to yoga and meditation accreditations, Borden has also completed the Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine certification through the Performing Arts Medicine Association and the American College of Sports Medicine.
Borden has embraced her entrepreneurial spirit to further her missions of wellness advocacy and using performance as a tool for educational outreach. Evidence of this is shown in her serving as a Co-Founder and Secretary of the Nova Trumpet Collective, which aims to elevate the trumpet chamber music standard through accessible performance and outreach with an emphasis on diverse representation of musicians and repertoire. She also co-founded the Phoenix Brass Collective and has been involved in outreach programs such as the Aspen Music Festival and School with the Backcountry Brass Quintet. Furthermore, Borden currently acts as Co-Owner and CEO of a virtual yoga studio, Yoga for All Musicians, catering specifically to the physical and emotional needs of musicians.
Borden completed her Doctoral studies at Arizona State University, where she served as Teaching Assistant to David Hickman and was recipient of Raphael Mendez Scholarship for Outstanding Graduate Student. Preceding ASU, Borden received her Master's degree in Trumpet Performance from the University of Colorado - Boulder where she taught as a Teaching Assistant as well as performed with the Graduate Brass Quintet. Lastly, she is a proud alumna of SUNY Potsdam where she received a Bachelor's degree in Trumpet Performance and her love of brass chamber music was established in the Frackenpohl Honors Brass Quintet. Borden is honored to be an S.E. Shires Artist.
Katie Berglof is host of the online live-stream series Musicians Dystonia and Injury Live Talk. Katie’s blog Living with Embouchure Dystonia documented her 11 year journey recovering from Focal Task-Specific Embouchure Dystonia through videos and writing. This lead to her becoming a well known advocate for classical musicians with dystonia and injuries.
Katie provides guidance to musicians who seek help with medical referrals, direction, and support surrounding injuries, disabilities, and/ or dystonia. She administrates online support groups for musicians with dystonia, and enjoys being involved in music dystonia research.
Katie is currently pursuing her masters degree in Nonprofit Arts Leadership and plans on founding an organization. In her free-time she plays with the Pacific Northwest Chamber Orchestra and the Hilltop Brass Quintet in her family’s hometown.
Katie is a member of the Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA), has passed the PAMA Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine course, and serves on the PAMA Young Professionals Committee. She is also a member of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE), and the International Horn Society (IHS).
A passionate and creative performer, Kate Amrine is a prominent trumpet player balancing a multifaceted career from developing new repertoire and curating concerts to freelancing with many different groups in the New York City area. Kate frequently alternates between the musical theater world and the contemporary classical/new music worlds. Some favorite recent experiences include being the lead trumpet player in all-women bands New Heights Brass Band and TOP Queens and performing with classical groups including the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Kings County Brass, and Spark Duo.
In addition to subbing on Broadway and performing in various regional productions, Kate has held the trumpet/piccolo/flugel chair on two Off-Broadway shows - Alice by Heart and Whisper House. Kate also performed on
the She is Risen album with an all-female orchestra and several Tony award nominees including Cynthia Erivo, Shoshana Bean and Ledisi.
Kate recently joined the pit orchestra on trumpet/tambourine for Beehive the 60's musical at Papermill Playhouse - safely filmed for streaming during quarantine. Kate has also been fortunate to play in a rock band with Norah Jones and lead trumpet in a full orchestra with Evanescence. Kate also appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as part of a female horn section with the band Sleigh Bells.
Kate is very dedicated to commissioning and performing new music, premiering over 30 pieces both as a soloist and a chamber musician. Kate’s second album This is My Letter to the World was released in early 2020 on the Innova record label. Her album features new music for trumpet inspired by politics and social concepts and addresses issues including gun violence, identity and the experience of being a woman, meditation, and immigration. Several of the pieces have an accompanying video element as well. Her duo Spark Duo with partner Ford Fourqurean is passionate about commissioning new works and recently completed a spring tour performing and presenting at several universities on the west coast. Kate’s debut album As I Am was self-released on November 7th, 2017 - featuring new music by women composers. Through this project, she was invited to present recitals at various festivals and events including the International Women’s Brass Conference (in 2019 and 2017), the Music by Women festival (in 2021 and 2018) and the Women Composer’s Festival of Hartford. As a classical soloist, Kate has performed Vivaldi’s Double Trumpet Concerto, Torelli’s piccolo Concerto, Leroy Anderson’s The Trumpeter’s Lullaby, and Persichetti’s The Hollow Men in New York City, her hometown Bethesda, Maryland, and in multiple cities on tour in Japan. Kate has also performed offstage solos at both Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall.
In addition to advocating for underrepresented composers, Kate is very passionate about expanding awareness and representation for female brass players. Kate Amrine also recently joined Rebecca Karu and Melissa Muñoz in co-founding Brass Out Loud - a new organization dedicated to uplifting and inspiring all brass players everywhere. We recently had our inaugural workshop featuring over 50 participants from over four countries with an age range of 13 to 60+. The workshop featured 23 faculty members of which 70% of them were female, trans, non binary, and/or BIPOC. Kate is also half of the team behind Brass Chicks (a blog dedicated to celebrating the work of female brass players with guest posts and interviews) and recently started a Facebook group to support female, trans, and non-binary brass players.
As a contractor, Kate has experience hiring musicians for everything from a full orchestra to a big band to a horn section for various events. She contracted a full orchestra for a recording session of Netanel Hershtik’s album The Art of Cantor at Avatar Studios. She also has hired musicians for over 10 different musicals, rock groups, and various church events since coming to NYC in 2010.
Kate received a Bachelor’s degree in Trumpet Performance from New York University and a Master’s degree from Peabody Conservatory. Kate is currently a Denis Wick artist and sponsored by Robinsons Remedies.
Hailey Brinnel is a trombonist, vocalist, and educator based in Philadelphia. At the age of 12 she began performing throughout New England with her father Dave Brinnel. Now at 25 she has performed at prestigious venues around the world, having played with artists such as Sherrie Maricle and the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Ingrid Jensen, Anat Cohen, and Pell. As part of the Temple University Jazz Band led by Terell Stafford, she has played and recorded alongside many of today's top jazz artists, including Ken Peplowski, Jimmy Heath, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jon Faddis, Luis Bonilla, Wycliffe Gordon, René Marie and Dick Oatts. In addition, she shared the stage with Maurice Hines and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra as part of the national tour of the Hines' off-Broadway production "Tappin' Thru Life". Brinnel was a finalist in the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition.
Although she is a young artist, Brinnel has already performed at acclaimed venues such as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the XPoNential Music Festival, The Lake George Jazz Festival, World Cafe Live, The Kennedy Center , The Kimmel Center, The Washington Women in
Jazz Festival in Washington D.C., Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and The North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam.
Her debut album, I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles peaked at #13 on Amazon's 'Jazz New Release' chart, and #44 on the website's Jazz Best-Seller chart. Brinnel's music is rooted firmly in the original intentions of 1920s-1940s jazz, arranged such that the energy is preserved but new life is undoubtedly breathed into them. Acclaimed trumpeter Terell Stafford praises Brinnel for “honoring the history of this music” and sounding “so pure and soulful” that “I can’t stop listening!”
As an educator, Brinnel has worked in a variety of settings spanning early childhood, elementary general, secondary instrumental and vocal, private lessons, master classes, as well as collegiate-level education courses. She is currently on faculty at The University of the Arts, The Kimmel Center, and works as a guest clinician to bring jazz education to classrooms throughout the city. She was also a featured clinician in the 2020 National Jazz Conference with her workshop A Melodic Approach to Scat Singing.
Brinnel is an Outside in Music and B.A.C. Musical Instruments Artist.
Velvet Brown is profoundly passionate about teaching and is a Distinguished Professor of Music at the Pennsylvania State University. She teaches applied tuba and euphonium and coordinates the brass chamber music program. Many of her students have won prestigious playing and teaching positions and were prizewinners at various regional, national and international competitions. Brown also serves as the Associate Director of the School of Music for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Velvet Brown enjoys a career as professor, international soloist, chamber ensemble performer, recording artist, conductor, and orchestral player. She has performed and taught in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Finland, France, England, Hungary, Slovenia, Russia, Japan, Cuba, Canada and the United States. Ms. Brown is currently the principal tubist of the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra. Brown was honored to be principal tuba with the Hope and Harmony Ensemble which recorded a video of fanfares for the 2021 Presidential Inauguration conducted by Marin Alsop. She has served as principal tuba with the River City Brass band, guest principal with the Lahti Philharmonic in Finland and as substitute or additional tubist with the Detroit Symphony, Saint Louis Symphony, San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. Having performed and worked closely with jazz and commercial artists regarded as some of the
most influential musicians of all time, including Howard Johnson, Bob Stewart and Doc Severinsen, she felt inspired to explore new territories in her music career. As a consequence, influenced also by some personal experiences, she decided to explore in music how life events shape one’s creativity and thus started a veritable music renaissance, which involves soul-searching musical patterns and a more profound relationship with the audience. She is the co- founder of MOJATUBA: Tuba and Dance Fusion Project, and is in her 15th year as lead tuba with Howard Johnson's "Gravity" Tuba Jazz Ensemble.
Velvet Brown has been an invited solo artist or tuba solo artist adjudicator at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conferences since 1998. She has also served as guest conductor for festivals in the United States in Maine, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania as well as abroad in Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Japan, and Canada. Brown is also honored to be Visiting Artist Faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to her tenure at Penn State, she also taught at Bowling Green State University (Ohio), Ball State University (Indiana), and served as an associate director of University Bands at Boston University.
Brown has garnered high praise as a founding and current member of Stiletto Brass Quintet, Monarch Brass Quintet and Brass Ensemble, the Quintet of Americas and the Pennsylvania Brassworks. Moreover, she is also a founding board member of the International Women’s Brass Conference.
She has released four solo CDs, and has collaborated on several other recordings as a soloist and ensemble member, such as Stiletto Brass Quintet featuring Doc Severinsen, trumpet, on one of her original compositions, Testimony (Howard Johnson and Gravity) as lead tuba, and a solo tuba jazz recording with the Cleveland Jazz Ensemble with Paul Ferguson, director. Velvet Brown is a Buffet/Crampon Performing Artist, performi ng on the MW 2250 and 2182 F tubas, and the MW 2000 and MW 3450 C tubas. She is also a performing artist for Denis Wick mouthpieces, mutes, and accessories.
Lanette López Compton is the Associate Professor of Horn at Oklahoma State University where she has been since 2005. She is presently a member of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and the Tulsa Opera Orchestra and has performed with groups in Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Argentina. Lanette has performed on more than a dozen CD’s, including the critically acclaimed CD The Manne We Love: Gershwin Revisited featuring the Steve Houghton Quintet and the University of North Texas Two O’clock Lab Band. She has performed at the International Women’s Brass Conference, International Horn Symposium, Mid-South Horn Workshop, Texas Music Educators Association Convention, College Band Director’s National Association Convention, World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Convention, and the American Bandmasters Association Convention.
Lanette is the 2014 recipient of the Wise-Diggs-Berry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts. During her tenure at OSU, she has had three Presser Scholars in her studio. Students in the OSU Horn Studio have placed in regional and international competitions and have made several summer music festivals such as National Music Festival, Round Top Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, Banff Masterclass Program, and Texas Music Festival. Studio members have also been accepted for graduate study at Rice University, Northwestern University, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, University of
Texas – Austin, Eastman School of Music, Southern Methodist University, Bowling Green State University, and Arizona State University. Graduates of Lanette’s studio have won professional orchestral positions throughout the United States including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Round Rock Symphony, Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
Lanette has been on faculty of the Western Chamber Music Institute held at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado and is currently on faculty at the FOOSA Festival/Fresno Summer Orchestra Academy which performs a concert in Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Professor Compton is in high demand as a clinician and adjudicator. She presented a clinic at the 2014 Midwest Clinic in Chicago and was a contributing artist and clinician at the 2019 International Horn Symposium in Ghent, Belgium, and most recently, the 2021 International Horn Symposium. Her “Drop the Beat” warm-up has been a popular and unique presentation at several regional and international horn conferences. Lanette has judged the Division level of the Music Teachers National Association Brass Competition, several regional horn workshop competitions, as well as the 2015, 2017, and 2019 International Horn Competition of America.
Lanette has been co-director of the very popular Noon Concert Series at the OSU Library since 2007. Professor Compton has been the Michael and Anne Greenwood School of Music’s Wellness Innovator for America's Healthiest Campus®. She has also served as faculty advisor for the OSU Hip Hop Dance Crew and OSU Dance Company. OSU Athletics selected Lanette as an honorary assistant football coach for her dedication to helping OSU athletes succeed academically.
Chanell Crichlow (M.M. tuba '10) and her ensemble, Pitchblak Brass Band, were featured in the February 2014 issue of Downbeat Magazine in an article titled "Getting Deep and Breaking Rules" by Jennifer ODell. The article discusses a new wave of brass bands that are blending New Orleans street music with hip-hop and rap to create a totally new art form.
The Pitchblak Brass Band is a ten-piece New York City-based ensemble of composers, producers, artists, and rappers who have performed together since 2010. Drawing upon its members’ diverse musical backgrounds, styles, and visions, PitchBlak mixes hip-hop and brass to create music that pulses with Afro-Caribbean beats, soaring jazz solos, and mind-melting guitar licks. They infuse their hip-hop-driven music with funk, rock, jazz, and classical. "Pitchblak percussionist and emcee Chris Johnson also works as a classical bass player; guitarist Ben Brody plays classical French horn; and about half the group wrote the original music that appears on their debut album, You See Us."
The band has performed at 66 Water Street in Brooklyn, the
92YTribeca, Southpaw, the Shrine, Spike Hill, and most recently headlined the first ever Brass Clash at the Brooklyn Bowl with the Underground Horns. In June 2011, PitchBlak participated in the acclaimed "Make Music New York" outdoor music festival, collaborating with hip-hop artist "We Stole the Show."
Band members are also active in community outreach programs and in classrooms throughout the city, teaching and mentoring other young musicians. PitchBlak’s members come to the band with an incredible diversity of musical background and training, infusing their hip-hop-driven music with funk, rock, jazz, and classical.
Chanell is a native New Yorker with strong roots in Trinidad, West Indies. She received her bachelor's degree at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Toby Hanks, and studied with Velvet Brown at Penn State. She has toured the Balkans with the Eli Yamin Blues Band through the United States State Department, and performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center. She has also played at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival, and with Nedra Johnson and The Fatbottom Girls. While a student at Penn State, Chanell held the principal tuba position with the Nittany Valley Symphony.
For almost 3 decades, trumpeter Jami Dauber has been residing in New York City, performing a wide variety of music, everything from Broadway and jazz, to salsa and classical. She is a widely acclaimed performer, educator, and recording artist. Jami has performed on multiple Broadway shows and most recently played lead trumpet in the orchestra for “A Bronx Tale the Musical.” She was also a member of the orchestra for the Broadway production of “Honeymoon in Vegas,” featuring the music of Jason Robert Brown, as well as “Anything Goes” and the Off-Broadway production of “Maurice Hines’ Tappin’ Thru Life. She has also performed in an orchestra with The Who at Madison Square Garden and Jones Beach.
She has been a member of The DIVA Jazz Orchestra and its core quintet FIVE PLAY for over 25 years and has been a long-time band member of The Ellington Legacy, led by Duke’s grandson, Edward Ellington. She has appeared with numerous artists including Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, and Diane Schuur with DIVA, as well as with Jason Robert Brown, the Wycliffe Gordon Big Band, the Christian McBride Big Band, and others.
In addition to her talent as a trumpet player, Jami also has extensive experience in management and contracting, having been the manager of DIVA Jazz Orchestra Ltd, as well as contractor, for over 15 years.
She has an extensive discography, including recordings on ArtistShare, Telarc, Ghostlight Records, Universal Music Enterprises, Rock-It Science, Arbors Records, and can be heard on the original cast recordings of A Bronx Tale the Musical and Honeymoon in Vegas.
Jami holds degrees from the University of Florida and the University of North Texas.
Richard Deane joined the New York Philharmonic as Associate Principal Horn in September 2014; he currently serves as Acting Principal Horn. Previously, he served as third horn of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra since 1987, participating in more than 80 recordings, including 20 Grammy Award winners, for Telarc International. He also performed with the Atlanta Chamber Players and was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet, with which he toured Norway as part of the Olympic cultural exchange between Lillehammer and Atlanta. Mr. Deane has also served as principal horn with the Colorado Philharmonic and the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and in 1987 he earned first prize in the American Horn Competition.
In May 1999 Mr. Deane was a featured artist at the International Horn Society Convention held at the University of Georgia in Athens. In addition to teaching master classes at The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, Georgia State University, Cleveland State University, and Eastern Kentucky University, he was visiting
professor of horn at the University of Georgia from 2006 to 2014. He serves as principal horn of the Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina each summer. His article “The Third Horn Brahms Experience” was published in the spring 2007 edition of The Horn Call, the journal of the International Horn Society, and his first method book, The Efficient Approach: Accelerated Development for the Horn, was published by the Atlanta Brass Society Press.
A native of Richmond, Kentucky, Richard Deane began his horn studies with Stanley Lawson. He received a master of music degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Myron Bloom, and a bachelor of music degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Michael Hatfield. His other teachers have included Jerry Peel at the University of Miami and David Wakefield at the Aspen Music Festival and School.
One of the elite brass soloists in the world, Adam Frey travels the globe sharing his talents as a performer and advocate for live music. He has performed all around the world with orchestras, wind bands, brass bands, and piano.
As a major ambassador of the euphonium, Adam has more than one hundred and forty works that have been composed or specifically arranged for him. Most are published by Euphonium.com Publications or PinnacleBrass.com.
For 18 years, Adam has hosted the International Euphonium Tuba (IET) Festival at Emory University. This event each June hosts more than 120 students and teachers from around the world in a week of playing, learning, and inspiration.
Tony Glausi is widely celebrated as one of the most accomplished trumpet players on the planet, with more awards and accolades than we have time to get into here. For years now, Glausi has been hailed as such while being overlooked for his prowess as a composer and producer. With EVERYTHING AT ONCE, his new album out September 3rd, Tony heads for straight-to-the-gut pop jams and R&B-influenced tunes that take inspiration from a bevy of sources while still remaining uniquely true to Glausi’s vision as an artist.
Growing up in a musical family in Portland, Oregon, Tony began to sing and play the piano at a young age. Citing Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Tracy Chapman, Paul Simon, Queen, Chet Baker, and Earth Wind & Fire amongst his earliest influences, by ten years old he had started to play the trumpet and compose. Tony now resides in New York and performs and records with the likes of Billboard-charting pianist and singer Peter Cincotti, GRAMMY-nominated Nana Mendoza, hip-hop legend Big Daddy Kane, and more. He is also currently starring in Speakeasy: Times Square.
To date, Glausi has produced ten records of his own music in
physical and digital formats, garnering awards, high-praising press, and an ever growing buzz amongst fans of all ages across social media platforms. As a diversified composer, his works have been commissioned on many occasions to be performed and recorded by world-class musicians. He has toured dozens of countries around the world playing at renowned festivals and clubs including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Leopolis Jazz Festival in Ukraine, the New Morning in Paris, and the Blue Note in New York, while also having performed as a featured guest artist with ensembles such as the United States Marine Corps All Star Jazz Band, the Eugene Symphony, and high school and college bands throughout the states.
Ashley Hall is an internationally renowned trumpet soloist, chamber musician, clinician, and coach. From small rural villages in the developing world to grand concert halls, both personally and professionally Ashley has engaged in her passion for building community and inviting people into the experience of music as a tool for connection.
As the principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Ashley enjoys regular cross-discipline artistic collaborations in non-traditional and traditional performance spaces in connection with their highly successful Summermusik Festival. She also held the position of third trumpet with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra from 2003-2012, and has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, Winston-Salem Symphony, Greensboro Symphony, Asheville Symphony, New World Symphony Orchestra, and Sinfonia Gulf Coast.
Her work as a soloist and recitalist has taken her around the globe including performances in Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Mexico and China. Recent career highlights include solo appearances in Taipei, Taiwan with the Grace Orchestra, multiple performances of B Minor Mass, and cornet solos with the North Carolina Brass Band, Lexington Brass Band, Atlantic Brass Band and the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band. As Concert Master of the New England Brass Band and founding member of the electro-acoustic trumpet quintet Fifth Bridge, Ashley enjoys a busy and diverse performance calendar. Recent highlights include multiple solo recital tours, national and international tours with Carolina Brass and Stiletto Brass Quintet, an Asia tour with the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, returning as guest artist to the Great American Brass Band Festival, and being the featured trumpet solo artist and clinician at both the International Women's Brass Conference and the National Trumpet Competition.
Ashley is on trumpet faculty at the Longy School of Music and also manages the school's innovative Career Coaching Program--a program designed to help students craft meaningful careers in the arts that are congruous with their personal values and goals. She has held other collegiate teaching positions at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, St. Olaf College and the University of Dayton. Ashley combines her passion for whole-person development with a methodical approach to trumpet improvement. Her teaching on respiratory mechanics, strategic practice planning, upper register development, and her personal stories of struggle and growth make her one of the most sought-after guest clinicians and educators on the trumpet.
With significant experience in arts leadership and education, Ashley served on the board of directors for the Rochester Symphony (MN), helping the Symphony reimagine its Educational Outreach programming. In collaboration with the Dayton Arts Institute, she and her husband developed “Art and Music: Making the Connection”—an educational program helping students to see the connections between visual art and music as they evolved over time. She currently assists the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra with their strategic planning initiatives, and loves to see the arts used as a powerful tool for community engagement and human connection.
Ashley’s passion for community engagement through the arts has taken on many iterations over the years but remains a focus of everything she does as an artist and teacher. She taught weekly early childhood music classes for Half Pint Harmonies to families in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and offered a free weekly course sponsored by the YMCA literacy program integrating principles of English as a second language into the Music Class curriculum for local refugee families. Additionally, Ashley loves organizing community “Brass Jams” during free outdoor Brass Band concerts, inviting kids of all ages to participate in the experience of music with those on stage. Ashley recently developed an interactive, multi-media brass quintet show called “Folk Tales: The Art of Story” which has been featured at the Cincinnati Children’s Theatre and the Forsyth County Public Library.
As an active recording artist, Ashley frequently enjoys time in the studio collaborating on new projects. She recorded a new CD in 2018 called “JUHLAT: Festivals and Celebrations” with the Brass Septet, Ameriikan Poijat. In 2019, she was one of the featured artists on the International Trumpet Guild’s recordings of the Brandt Etudes. Ashley also recorded a PBS Special with Carolina Brass and the North Carolina Master Chorale called the “Joy of the Season” which will be aired every holiday season between 2017-2019. “Christmas Wrapped in Brass” (2017) also features Ashley in the solo cornet section of the North Carolina Brass Band. In the fall of 2007, Ashley released her debut album entitled, "Behold Him", a collection of hymns for solo trumpet, and she has recorded two CD’s with EUROBRASS, “Give Thanks to the Lord”, and “Worthy is the Lord.”
Mrs. Hall holds a bachelor's degree in trumpet performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and an artist diploma from the Longy School of Music. When not traveling and performing, she enjoys her second career as a mother to two incredible children, Morgan and Kevin, and as a wife/best friend to Nathan Tighe. She proudly endorses GR Mouthpieces.
Dr. Rusty Holmes is a speaker, teacher, and freelance horn player in the greater Austin, TX area. He currently holds the position of 2nd horn with the Central Texas Philharmonic, 4th horn with the Mid-Texas Symphony, and frequently subs with the Temple (Tx), Brazos Valley, and Victoria (Tx) Symphony Orchestras. Dr. Holmes teaches a large private studio in Austin, TX comprised of middle school, high school, university, and amateur adult students.
Dr. Holmes is an active lecturer and has presented at regional and international workshops, including the 52nd International Horn Symposium hosted virtually by the University of Oregon School of Music and Dance. He is also a frequent guest speaker and teacher at colleges and universities across the United States.
Dr. Holmes received his Bachelor of Music Education degree from Oklahoma State University and his Master of Music and Doctorate of Musical Arts in Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. His musical mentors include Lanette Compton and Patrick Hughes.
Bente Illevold (b. 1983) comes from Rendalen in Østerdalen and plays the euphonium. Over the past few years, she has left her mark as an innovative performer and has gained recognition for her performances of several new works for the instrument, both at home and abroad. She has a master's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music and has performed with several of the country's professional bands and orchestras.
Bente is passionate about expanding the euphonium repertoire and allowing the instrument to unfold in new constellations and contexts. She has commissioned seven major works for the euphonium, and several more is to come!
Bente works daily as a freelance musician and educator and is regularly invited as a guest teacher at educational institutions and as a soloist at national and international festivals. She also works as a band conductor and is passionate about her work with youths. Bente is the euphonium player in the Northern Lights Duo and in Elvebyen brass quartet, she also arranges music for brass ensembles and wind bands.
Bente is an international SE Shires Company Euphonium artist and was the company`s first pick as their first female and European euphonium artist. Bente performs on Shires Q41 Euphonium and mouthpieces from Doug Elliott. Her debut album “Klangen fra de dype skoger” was published in 2020 and for that she was nominated «Instrumentalistin des Jahres» in OPUS KLASSIK, Germany's biggest Classical music magazine. Her second album “Alene” is to be released in the fall of 2021.
Megumi Kanda, Principal Trombone of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, is a native of Tokyo, Japan. Megumi began to play the trombone at age ten and continued her studies at the prestigious Toho High School of Music, where she studied with Sumio Miwa, trombonist in the NHK Symphony Orchestra. At age fifteen, she became the youngest player ever to be named as one of the top ten trombonists at the Japanese Wind and Percussion Competition. Two years later, she won the Grand Prize in the National Competition for Solo Trombone and won best soloist prize upon graduation from the Toho High School of Music.
Megumi came to the United States in 1994, and received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with James DeSano, former principal trombone of the Cleveland Orchestra. Prior to joining the Milwaukee Symphony in 2002, she previously served as a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, faculty member of the Eastman School of Music Community Education Division, and principal trombonist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra.
Megumi has performed in recital and as a soloist across the United States, Europe and Asia, including with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the US Army Field and Pershing’s Own Bands, and the Prague Chamber Orchestra. As a JVC/Victor Entertainment artist, Megumi recorded three solo albums: Amazing Grace, Gloria, and Mona Lisa. She also can be heard on Magnifique Live, a live recording with other JVC artists recorded at an August 2005 performance at Takemitsu Hall in Tokyo’s Opera City. She is a regular guest artist at festivals such as the International Trombone Festival and the American Trombone Workshop, as well as at numerous colleges around the US and Japan.
In April 2006, Megumi was recognized by the Arion Foundation in Tokyo, Japan as one of the most influential Japanese classical artists. She has also received a Certificate of Commendation from the Consul General of Japan at Chicago in recognition for distinguished service contributing to the friendship betweend the United States and Japan. In 2017, Megumi was named by the Milwaukee Business Journal as one of Milwaukee’s Women of Influence in the category of education.
In her spare time, Megumi enjoys gardening, going to Milwaukee Brewers games, and taking walks with her husband Dietrich and sons Hans, Max, and Lukas.
Rebecca Karu is a spirited horn player based in the NJ/NYC areas. As an up and coming performing artist, she demonstrates versatility in both her musicianship, and as an educator within the music community. Along with being an impassioned musician, Rebecca has an ardent devotion to artistic development. Rebecca attended Montclair State University where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance. During her time there she studied with Jeff Scott, who has and continues to be a great friend and mentor. She played with the Cali Quintet and performed frequently with them for concerts throughout the area. She was also selected to perform a joint concert with Towson University and Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland where they performed Mahler's Symphony No. 2 under the baton of Julian Benichou. Rebecca continued to perform in the orchestra, playing other major works like Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5, Dvorak 9, Saint Saëns Symphony No.3, and ended her time at Montclair on a high note as principal horn performing Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Her studies have continued at The Mannes School of Music in New York City where
she completed her Masters degree in Music Performance in May, 2021. She was a student of the brilliant soloist, David Jolley. She was an active part of the Orchestra, playing Principal horn for works like Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream, and was also orchestra member of the Opera production of Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten in 2019. Rebecca is currently pursuing her DMA at Rutgers University in New Jersey where she studies with Richard Deane and is acting prinicpal horn for Rutgers Symphonic Winds. Rebecca was a four-time participant of the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival. She also attended the Sewanee Summer Music Festivalin 2016 where she placed into the top orchestra, and was a student of Alexander Shuhan. In 2018, she was accepted into the AIMS Wind Academy in Solsona, Cataluna, Spain and was awarded the GREMI grant; a full scholarship to the program sponsored by GEMC Publishers. She then had the opportunity of performing the solo piece she submitted for the grant application, La Tarara by Juan Carlos Lax Santa, twice over the course of the festival. She was the first Wind Academy participant and the only American that year to win the scholarship. While attending the Academy, she studied with Scott Brubaker of the Metropolitan Opera.
Rebecca is the newly appointed Professor of Horn at Ocean County College in Toms River, New Jersey. Additionally, she is one of the founders of Brass Out Loud; a non-profit organization who's mission is to uplift and highlight underrepresented voices in the brass community. Through their annual workshops, year round panel discussions and BOLD Chats, Brass Out Loud aims to offer educational and inspirational resources to help form and create a better and more inclusive brass community.
Rebecca is a horn player for Opera Italiana in NYC; a concert celebrating Italian Opera works, held in Central Park midsummer in both 2018, 2019 and 2021 She played assistant horn for Scott Brubaker in 2018, fourth horn in 2019, and second horn in 2021. Rebecca is currently second horn with the Fairfield County Chorale based in Norwalk, CT.
As an advocate for musician's health, Rebecca has her own blog entitled, Mind Over Practice: Integrated Perspectives on Health and Performance. Her blog addresses topics that range from Performance Anxiety management, to how to schedule productive practice sessions. She emphasizes the importance of prioritizing our health, mind, and general well-being as artists to then later enhance our performance abilities. She also holds a certificate in Essentials of Performing Arts Medicine from the Performing Arts Medicine Associate (PAMA) in conjunction with the American College of Sports Medicine. Rebecca is also an active member of PAMA. Additionally, Rebecca recently gave a masterclass on Performance Anxiety at the 2020 Urubrass Festival, a masterclass for Echo: Musicians Connect on How to Uncover Your Artistic Confidence in October, 2020 and a talk on Mental Health and Disabilities in the Arts through Odyssey in March, 2021.
Christopher Martin is one of the leading classical trumpet voices on the world stage. He joined the New York Philharmonic as Principal Trumpet, The Paula Levin Chair, in September 2016. He served as principal trumpet of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for 11 seasons, and enjoyed a distinctive career of more than 20 years in some of America’s finest orchestras, including as principal trumpet of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and associate principal trumpet of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He made his New York Philharmonic solo debut in October 2016, performing Ligeti’s The Mysteries of the Macabre, led by then Music Director Alan Gilbert.
Praised as “brilliant, impeccable” by The New York Times and as a musician of “effortless understated virtuosity” by The Chicago Tribune, Christopher Martin has appeared as soloist multiple times nationally and internationally with the CSO and music director Riccardo Muti. Highlights of Mr. Martin’s solo appearances include the 2012 World Premiere of Christopher Rouse’s concerto Heimdall’s Trumpet; Panufnik’s Concerto in modo antico, with Mr. Muti; a program of 20th-century French concertos by André Jolivet and
Henri Tomasi; and more than a dozen performances of J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. Other solo engagements have included Mr. Martin with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa’s Saito Kinen Festival, Atlanta and Alabama Symphony Orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. Christopher Martin’s discography includes a solo performance in John Williams’s score to Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln (2012) and two recordings of a concerto Mr. Martin co-commissioned: John Mackey’s Antique Violences.Dedicated to music education, Mr. Martin is a professor of trumpet at The Juilliard School and has given master classes and seminars around the world. He has served on the faculty of Northwestern University and coached the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for 11 years. In 2010 he co-founded the National Brass Symposium with his brother Michael Martin, a trumpeter in the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and in 2016 he received the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation from the American Bandmasters Association for outstanding contributions to the wind band genre.Christopher Martin is a Yamaha Performing Artist. He and his wife, Margaret — an organist and pianist — have two young children who both prefer the piano over the trumpet.
A native of St. Louis, MO, Wayne J. du Maine has been performing successfully in the New York City area for over thirty years. As a trumpeter, Wayne has performed and recorded with such ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. He currently holds the principal chair with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the American Composers Orchestra. Mr. du Maine has also led the Hartford Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Westchester Philharmonic as conductor of educational concerts. As a trumpet soloist, he has performed numerous concerti with the Concordia Orchestra as well as orchestras from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Jacksonville, Springfield (MA), and Mid Coast (ME).
As a longtime member of the Manhattan Brass, Wayne has presented and created numerous educational outreach programs for K-12 students in the five boroughs, CT, NJ, and PA. He enjoyed his 20 years as a faculty member of Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, where he led the trumpet ensemble and was founder, music director, and conductor of the MAP Orchestra. He has also
taught at Columbia University, Princeton University, Bar Harbor Brass Week, and the Bowdoin Music Festival. Wayne is currently the Director of Bands at the Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ, where he leads the Jazz Ensemble, Concert Bands, Jazz Quintet, Rock Band, and Trumpet Ensemble.
Mr. du Maine dedicates his summers to performing at music festivals. This began back in the late 80s, when he spent three summers with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra performing as principal trumpet under Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa. He has since performed at festivals including Spoleto, Aspen, Vermont Mozart, Manchester (VT), Berkshire Choral, Bard, and, most recently, the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival.
Wayne has also been contracted to play many Broadway shows like Titanic, Music Man, Man of La Mancha, and The King and I. He has served as associate conductor for Fiddler on the Roof, the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific, and The Scottsboro Boys.
A major highlight of his career was having the opportunity to perform with Prince at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, MN. Wayne can be heard on Prince’s Newpower Soul recording.
Mr. du Maine holds degrees from the Juilliard School where he received the Peter Mennin and William Schuman Awards for outstanding excellence. He has been an associate musician with the Metropolitan Opera for 26 years. As a member of ensembles such as Absolute, Xenakis, and Orpheus, he has toured five continents.
Melissa Muñoz is a vibrant and dedicated trumpeter, educator, and non-profit administrator based in New York City. She enjoys playing various genres of music and has performed with The Dallas Winds, New World Symphony, and Johnstown Symphony Orchestra. Melissa has a particular interest in chamber music and competed in the 2020 Virtual Fischoff Chamber Music Competition with Elm Street Brass Quintet. The group advanced to the semi-finals round and received the American Brass Quintet Prize. She is currently a member of the all-woman ensemble eGALitarian Brass, a classical brass quintet by day - brass band by night.
Melissa earned her Bachelor of Music degree at The University of Texas at Austin in 2018 and graduated with her Master of Music degree from Yale School of Music in May 2020, where she was awarded the John Swallow Brass Prize. She also studied at the Colburn School under the tutelage of Jim Wilt. Melissa is currently a fellow in Cleveland Institute of Music's inaugural Future of Music Faculty Fellowship, a program designed to represent “a critical step forward in creating diversity within the music academy and beyond.”
Melissa has a passion for education and loves bringing out meaningful musicianship in her students. She has served as Adjunct Instructor of Brass at Cheshire Academy since 2019 and maintained a private lesson studio since 2017. Melissa is a co-founder of Brass Out Loud, an organization dedicated to uplifting the voices of musicians from underrepresented communities. She has lectured on the topic of diversity in the brass world at universities across the U.S. and presented a panel discussion with virtual collaborative performances at the 2021 International Trumpet Guild Conference. Melissa will perform at ITG in May 2022 as a member of the nonprofit organization, "Trompettes Soniques," an organization that serves to encourage and empower female musicians and trumpeters to strive for their life goals by experiencing the highest levels of performance, education, composition, and commissions.
As a staff member at the Kaufman Music Center, Melissa serves as Registrar/Administrative Associate at the Lucy Moses School and Music Program Coordinator (K-8) at the Special Music School. Additionally, Melissa serves as Educational Initiatives Coordinator and member of Nova Trumpet Collective, an organization that aims to elevate the trumpet chamber music standard through accessible performance and outreach with an emphasis on diverse representation of musicians and repertoire. Her hobbies include reading, running, and roller skating.
Daniel Pettrow is a Brooklyn-based director, actor, and artist. He frequently focuses on new and experimental creations while fostering collaborations with artists from different disciplines. Recently, he created the short film and art show “Let Us Believe in the Be ginning of the Hot Season” which premiered at Fondation Fiminco in Paris, France, in June 2021 (made in collaboration with Afghan artist Kubra Khademi.) In January 2021, Daniel created the short film “Wolf and Duck” as part of the Guggenheim’s Work and Process Artist Virtual Commissions (available online at the Guggenheim website.) In 2019, he created an original dance-theater production with Mikhail Baryshnikov, and choreographer John Heginbotham, which had its world premiere at Baryshnikov Arts Center. Daniel was the assistant director and performer of Dance Heginbotham’s The Principles of Uncertainty, which premiered at Jacob’s Pillow, The Guggenheim, and BAM. Mr. Pettrow also performs the role of “The Wolf” in Isaac Mizrahi’s production of Peter & The Wolf for Guggenheim Works & Process (2012 - present). For the last twenty years, Daniel has worked closely with renowned French director Arthur Nauzy ciel, having performed at National Theaters and festivals all over the world (Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Bob in Splendid’s, Cal in Black Battles with Dogs, Roberto Zucco in Roberto Zucco, and staged readings of Hetero and Jan Karski: My Name Is Fiction.) In 2016, Daniel worked with legendary Italian director Romeo Castellucci, performing in Julius Caesar: Spared Parts for FIAF’S “Crossing the Line Festival” in New York. Daniel is an associate actor with New York City-based experimental theater company The Wooster Group, having
performed as Horatio in Hamlet, Sky in Vieux Carré, and Fe male Dancer in Who’s Your Dada?. He is also a teaching artist at The Wooster Group’s Summer Institute. He is a frequent collaborator with choreographer Anabella Lenzu, having directed No More Beautiful Dances, The Night That You Stopped Acting, In Pur suit of Happiness, Pacamama, and Sangre & Arena. Mr. Pettrow is the Director of Per formance and Communication Training for Heifetz International Music Institute. He also teaches Drama and Speaking in Public at Heifetz Institute. He is a teacher and lecturer at The Banff Centre for their ‘Concert in the 21st Century’ program, and a guest teacher at Juilliard, NYU, Cleveland Institute of Music, and National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Paris. Mr. Pettrow has been the drama director for YoungArts Miami (2015), YoungArts LA (2016 - 2017) and YoungArts DC (2019). TV: Red Band Society, Good Eats, Don’t Know Jack, Road Trip. Film: In Stereo, Sweet Parents, The Cult of Sincerity, The Last Adam, Psychopathia Sexualis, Kathy T, My Uncle Sidney.
Jasmine “Jazzie” Pigott began to play the tuba at the age of ten after accidentally choosing the trombone and playing that for a year; she quickly excelled. As a college junior in 2018, Jasmine was invited to be a solo artist on the “Promising Artists of the 21st Century” concert series tour in Costa Rica. There, she realized her true passion for performing for people of marginalized backgrounds. Since then, Jasmine has become an activist for increasing the diversity in the field of classical music. With this mission, she has participated in several research projects, performed concerts in marginalized communities, and developed performance-based projects and presentations. In February 2020, Jasmine was awarded the first prize in the Michigan State University Running Start Competition for her grant proposal to commission composers of color to write tuba pieces in black music styles for an album. In addition to playing tuba, Jasmine is a mezzo-soprano with a voice that fits a diversity of styles. She also actively writes fiction and poetry with hopes to get published one day.
Trumpeter, Susan Rider, resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. In the region she has performed with various ensembles including the Annapolis Chorale and Chamber Orchestra, Columbia Pro Cantare Festival Orchestra, Alexandria Symphony, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Harrisburg Symphony, Snark Ensemble, and the Cathedral Choral Society Orchestra. In addition, she is a member of the Stiletto Brass Quintet and Monarch Brass. Since 1997, Susan has served as a member of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.
As an orchestral musician, she has performed as a member of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Iowa, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Owensboro Symphony, Bloomington Pops Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra, Midland/Odessa Symphony and Lone Star Brass Quintet. Additionally, she has performed with the Evansville Philharmonic, San Angelo Symphony and New World Symphony.
As a soloist, Susan has been a featured soloist with several ensembles to include The Hannaford Street Silver Brass Band, The Volga Band, Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra, Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony, The Louisville Winds, Cal State University Northridge Wind Ensemble, Fort Dodge Area Orchestra and The United States Marine Band. Additionally, she has performed at various music conferences, among them The Midwest Clinic, International Women’s Brass Conference, and the International Trumpet Guild.
As an educator, Susan has held positions as an Associate Instructor at Indiana University; as adjunct faculty
at Purdue and Shenandoah Universities; and as a private trumpet/cornet instructor for the Ector County Independent School District in Odessa, Texas. Her educational outreach has included in-person and virtual master classes/clinics/festivals nationally and internationally, and she maintains a private teaching studio in Northern Virginia.
Susan completed her musical education from the University of Northern Iowa (B.M.), and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (M.M. and D.M.). She is grateful to have studied with master trumpet teachers Keith Johnson, Randy Grabowski, Charles Gorham, and Edmund Cord.
Amelia Rosenberger is a trombonist and yoga teacher based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She has dedicated her career to helping musicians relieve tension, pain, and performance anxiety through the practice of yoga. She believes it is important that musicians take care of both their bodies and minds in order to create sustainable careers.
Amelia has designed yoga classes that specifically target musicians’ wellness needs. All of her classes include simple, beginner-friendly yoga movements, poses, and meditations that are accessible to everyone. She has taught her Yoga for Trombone workshop at universities, including Northwestern University, DePaul University, and the University of Texas at Arlington. You can find examples of her teaching on her Music Body Mind website and YouTube page. Amelia is currently a graduate trombone student at UTA where she studies with Dennis Bubert. She teaches a weekly Yoga for Musicians class to her peers.
In addition to her yoga teaching, Amelia is an accomplished trombonist. She won the American Trombone Workshop Division II
National Solo Competition in 2015. In 2014 she was a winner in both the Chamber Music Tulsa Heckman Instrumental Competition and the Courtois Trombone Quartet Competition. Amelia’s undergraduate degree is from Oklahoma State University where she studied with Paul Compton. Amelia is a 500-hour certified yoga teacher with a specialization in Yoga Therapy from Kripalu School of Yoga.
Wiff Rudd began teaching trumpet and serving as Brass Area Coordinator at Baylor University in 2002. Previous teaching posts include Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Arkansas. A founding member of Rhythm & Brass, he is also an active soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. He has been a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall on multiple occasions and at several National Trumpet Competitions and International Trumpet Guild Conferences. Rudd has performed and presented master classes at more than 350 universities and music festivals on five continents. He serves as principal trumpet with the Waco Symphony and performs regularly with the orchestras of Houston (Moscow 2012), Dallas (Europe 2013 and 2016), and Harrisburg. Baylor’s trumpet ensembles have won six prizes at the National Trumpet Competition since 2009, including three first place wins. In 2010, Rudd received the Award for Outstanding Teaching and was named the Centennial Professor, which provided funding for research in collaborative practice. The resulting book, Collaborative Practice Concepts, was released at the 2013 and has been adopted by many university trumpet studios across the country.
Steph Smith was predestined to excel as a professional french horn player. Born into a family of musicians, she is a third generation horn player who has inherited artistry that simply cannot be taught.
Originally from Park Ridge, Illinois, Steph relocated to Boston, Massachusetts in 2010 to attend the Boston Conservatory. In 2014 she graduated with a Bachelors of Music in french horn performance.
Recognized as an up-and-coming artist Steph has received a Boston Conservatory Artistic Merit Scholarship, the Chicago Federation of Musicians Scholarship, and the James D Sedlack Memorial Scholarship to aid her towards becoming a professional musician.
Steph’s musical experiences span farther than the range of the instrument itself. While attending the Boston Conservatory she was trained to perform for all mediums and styles of performance art, including dance, combined chorus, musical theater, opera, wind ensemble, brass ensemble, chamber music, and orchestra.
Steph was reviewed positively as a sensitive player during a performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
"...and the difficult horn parts (This is, after all, an opera in which cuckoldry is important) stood out with bright but never overbearing sound” -The Boston Musical Intellegencer.
Steph was honored to be selected to perform in the late Gunther Schuller’s Progressive Jazz Orchestra conducted by the Schuller himself during the Boston Conservatory's New Music Festival in 2011. She is an active performing chamber musician in the Greater Boston area. Most recently, Steph was a founding member of 4Play Horn Quartet which was awarded first place at the 48th International Horn Society Symposium's horn quartet competition. The quartet was honored to perform on one of the final featured artists performances. Steph was a founding member of the woodwind ensemble The Niji Quintet, best known for its extensive community outreach. The quintet was selected to perform as featured artists of the Museum of Fine Arts' Community Concert series in 2014. Two of Steph’s chamber ensembles have won the Boston Conservatory Honors Chamber Music Competition, once in 2011, and again in 2013.
Steph’s orchestral opportunities have taken her to locations that musicians only dream about. She has performed in Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Rotterdam’s de Doelen, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebow. Locally Steph has performed as a member of the Haffner Sinfonietta, East Coast Scoring Orchestra, and Brookline Symphony Orchestra. She has also substituted for the Boston Philharmonic as well as performed as a utility player for the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra in Illinois.
Steph studied under esteemed french horn pedagogues Eli Epstein, Melanie Cottle, and Dorothy Katz. She has been coached by world renowned musicians Geralyn Coticone, Adrian Morejon, and Naomi Bensdorf Frisch. Steph has also performed in Master classes with notable artists James Somerville, Jason Snider, Luca Benucci, Norman Bolter, Joan Watson, Tage Larson, and Dale Clevenger. When not performing Steph is either teaching private lessons or is on location shooting head shots for musicians as a freelance photographer.
A native of Roseville, MN, Denise Tryon is the Associate Professor of Horn at University of Cincinnati CCM. Tryon is also the 4th horn of the famed American Horn Quartet. She served as the Horn Professor of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore from 2007 - 2018. Previously, Tryon was fourth horn of The Philadelphia Orchestra (2009-2017). She has also held positions with the Detroit Symphony (2003-2009), Baltimore (2000-2003), Columbus (1998-2000), and New World (1995-1998) Symphonies. An accomplished solo performer, Tryon has performed recitals in Sweden, Norway, Poland, Japan, Canada and the United States.
“Denise Tryon’s command of the lower register provides the strongest foundation of sound for a horn section, and yet, her sound is supple and flexible.”
—Yannick Nezet-Sequin, music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra
In 1989 Tryon graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and in 1993 received her Bachelor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston. She received the
Presidential Scholarship while in the Artist Diploma Program at NEC with the Taiyo Wind Quintet, which won the Coleman Chamber Competition and worked with great composers such as John Harbison, Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, and Elliott Carter.
An active and accomplished educator, Tryon is sought after for her masterclasses. She has taught extensively in the United States, Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and South America. Beth Graham of the Warsaw Philharmonic and founder of the Warsaw Horn Workshops raves, “In just a few seconds of listening to a student she can diagnose deep-seated problems and give immediate fixes, often with a healthy dose of humor as well. The transformations she can accomplish in just a short time are truly remarkable.” She’s been a featured artist at many IHS Symposiums and Regional Workshops. Tryon was one of the Solo Artists at the Nordic Hornfest in 2012 in Norway. In 2013, Tryon was on faculty at BIBA (Blekinge International Brass Academy). She was a Featured Artist at the Warsaw Horn Workshops in 2013, 2015, and 2016. Also in 2016, she was on faculty during the brass weeks at Domaine Forget. Tryon has been a artist at Corno Brass Festival in 2018 and 2019. Since 2017, she’s been a faculty member at Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Denver, CO.
Tryon released her debut solo album, SO•LOW in 2015. As a part of this album, she commissioned 4 new pieces for low horn and piano. Said in a review by Gramophone Magazine “Tryon plays these works with sonorous fluidity and dexterity, ending with a bit of captivating acrobatics.” A Pair of Aces, a duo horn album between Tryon and Karl Pituch, Principal Horn of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was released in 2017. In 2020, she released her second solo album, Hope Springs Eternal, including 6 new commissions for low horn and piano.
In 2009, Tryon founded Audition Mode, a yearly horn seminar, with Karl Pituch. The seminar focuses on the skills horn players need to be successful in orchestral auditions.
With over two decades of performing on the world’s classical music stages, tubist Richard White has matured into a musician known for his clear sound and stylistic flexibility. He began his tuba studies with Ed. Goldstein at age twelve at The Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, where he graduated with honors. He then went to the Peabody Conservatory of Music to study with David Fedderly (Principal Tubist, Baltimore Symphony) where he received his Bachelor’s degree. On the advice of Mr. Fedderly, Richard traveled to Indiana University to study with the legendary Professor Daniel Perantoni. He continued his studies there receiving both his Master’s and Doctoral degrees.
Dr. White held the position of Principal Tubist with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra from 2004 until it’s untimely demise in 2011 and is currently in his fifth season as Principal Tubist of the New Mexico Philharmonic. Richard enjoys teaching at the University of New Mexico, where he is Associate Professor of tuba/euphonium, and Associate Director of the Spirit Marching Band. Dr. White has performed with the Canadian Brass Quintet, Indiana University
Faculty Brass Quintet, New Mexico Symphony Brass Quintet, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, Sphinx Symphony, Spoleto Music Festival U.S.A., Music in the Mountains, a summer festival located in beautiful Durango, CO, and many others. Dr. White is an Adams Artist, and performs exclusively on these instruments.
Prior to moving to New Mexico, Dr. White was one of the top freelance musicians in the Indianapolis area, where he recorded with such greats as movie film composer John Williams, Cincinnati Pops conductor Eric Kunzel, and the late great wind ensemble conductor Frederik Fennell.
Throughout his musical and educational career development, Dr. White has had a passionate interest in motivational speaking. That dream has recently materialized itself with the launching of his website rawtuba.com. Sharing inspirational thoughts and philosophies that have motivated Dr. White has taken him to Mexico, South America, Europe, South East Asia and across the United States of America – with more engagements on the horizon.
Trombonist Jeremy Wilson is acclaimed for the versatility and lyricism of his playing as well as his insight and commitment as a teacher. He was appointed Associate Professor of Trombone at Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music in 2012, and has since built one of the premiere undergraduate trombone programs in the US. A champion of new music, he has commissioned or premiered over 30 pieces for trombone since 2016, recording many of these works on his two albums, Perspectives (2018) and For the Beauty of the Earth (2021). He is the creator of the Body Mind Spirit Method, a holistic philosophy and process that aims to help musicians prepare and perform music more effectively and build careers that are fulfilling and sustainable through online videos and intensive workshops.
Wilson is well-known in trombone circles for the unusual way his professional career was launched. On his first-ever orchestral audition attempt at the age of 24, he won a prestigious position with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and its sister organization,
the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. A native of Tennessee, Wilson returned to his home state to fulfill his long-time passion for teaching and devote more time to his young family. He accepted a full-time teaching position at Vanderbilt University but continued a busy performance schedule as well. During the 2013-14 arts season, he served as guest principal trombonist with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and subbed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed and recorded on several occasions with the Saito Kinen Orchestra at the special invitation of Maestro Seiji Ozawa, and performed concerts of famous film music under the batons of John Williams with the Nashville Symphony and Joe Hisaishi at Carnegie Hall.
In addition to his versatility as an orchestral player, Wilson is highly sought as a soloist and chamber musician. In addition to his two solo albums, he is well-known across the globe for his Standard Repertoire Project, an ongoing YouTube series of performance and “tips” videos of standard trombone works that has garnered hundreds of thousands of views since it began in 2018 and serves as an immense resource for young trombonists.
As a chamber artist, he is a member of the Aries Trombone Quartet “supergroup”, the Blair Brass Quintet (Vanderbilt’s faculty quintet), and a trumpet, trombone, piano trio called TRIIIOMNIA. With his keen affinity for jazz, Wilson is a member of the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra, based in Nashville, and was previously a member of the University of North Texas’s famed One O’Clock Lab Band, the University of Tennessee’s award-winning ensemble Tennessee Trombonery, and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra.
Highly respected as a dedicated teacher and clinician, Wilson has given masterclasses and lectures at universities and conservatories all over the world and has been on faculty at the Alessi Seminar, the Pokorny Low Brass Seminar, and a variety of trombone festivals. His Vanderbilt students have been winners and finalists for several domestic and international competitions and have participated in many prestigious summer festivals. In 2017 he received the Blair School's Faculty Excellence Award.
Wilson started studying music in the sixth grade, becoming a serious student of the trombone in high school. In college, he double-majored in music education and performance at the University of Tennessee, where he was a Presser Scholar, before getting a Master of Music at the University of North Texas, graduating in 2011. His teachers have included Don Hough, Vern Kagarice, Jan Kagarice, Tony Baker, and Tom Lundberg. Wilson currently resides in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife Kristi and their three children.
Riley Mulherkar has been recognized as a “smart young trumpet player” by The New York Times, praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on,” and is a 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award for his work as “an original bandleader, composer, arranger, educator, community activist and advocate for jazz and the arts.”
Riley works with a number of leading artists of our time, including Wynton Marsalis, Anna Deavere Smith, and Alan Cumming, and is a founding member of The Westerlies, a new music brass quartet that creates the rarest of hybrids: music that is both “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music).
Riley also serves as Artistic Director for Jazz at Joye in Aiken, bringing leading young talent to the historic city of Aiken, South Carolina.
Born and raised in seattle, Riley moved to New York in 2010 to study at The Juilliard School, where he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in 2014 and his Master’s in 2015. In 2014, he was the first recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant at the Festival of New Trumpet Music.
Riley is actively engaged in educational initiatives, founding the Joye in Aiken Jazz Camp in 2021, directing the Summer Advanced Institute at Seattle JazzEd from 2017-2019, and serving as an ambassador for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Jazz for Young People” program in New York and St. Louis from 2016 – 2018. Riley is also a faculty member of The College of Performing Arts at The New School in New York, NY.Riley is an Edwards Artist and performs on Edwards trumpets.
