Sarah graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with David Bilger of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The past two summers she has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she studied with members of the Boston Symphony. She has performed as a substitute musician with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Currently she resides in Chicago, where she is completing her master’s degree at Northwestern University.
Whether playing suspended in midair on the Broadway stage or soloing on the Symphony Hall stage in Chicago, Amy McCabe enjoys performing in a variety of capacities. She was recently a solo recitalist at the International Trumpet Guild conference, the International Women's Brass conference, and was a soloist with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain in London’s Regent Hall and in Prague, Czech Republic for the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles. In January, Amy also recorded the premiere of Fernande Decruck’s Concerto for Trumpet and Horn, “Poeme Heroique", with the Jackson Symphony.
Amy is currently a co-principal trumpet with The “President’s Own” United States Marine Band, and has completed three national and international concert tours as a soloist in addition to her duties in Washington DC at the White House and Arlington National Cemetery. She is also an active chamber musician, and recently recorded the world premiere of Eugene O’Brien’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic with the 21stCentury Consort in addition to the premiere recording of Florence Price’s Octet for Brass with the Barclay Brass. Amy has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and has performed as principal trumpet with the National Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony. She was the “Loss” soloist in the first National and Japan touring cast of the Tony and Emmy-award winning show, “Blast!” in addition to touring with pop artist Michael Bolton on a national tour. Amy was also a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Artosphere Festival and was a member of the Walt Disney World Collegiate All-Star Big Band.
Amy holds a degree in elementary education from Illinois Wesleyan University studying with Steve Eggleston and Judith Saxton, and a Master’s degree in trumpet performance from Northwestern University, studying with Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer.
In her free time, Amy greatly enjoys volunteering with Sound Impact, a chamber music group dedicated to positive social change through authentic community engagement, and the Boulanger Initiative, dedicated to promoting music composed by women. She is also committed to encouraging her new rescue dog, Mojo, to sing along with the trumpet.
Raquel Samayoa is an accomplished trumpet soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator with a diverse and dynamic career. She is currently Associate Professor of Trumpet and co-director of the UNT Brass Band at the University of North Texas College of Music. Dr. Samayoa was previously on faculty at Tennessee Tech University and Northern Kentucky University.
Raquel is principal trumpet with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (TX) and a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick Artist and Clinician. Passionate about chamber music, Raquel is a member of the award-winning Seraph Brass and Lantana Trio, with whom she frequently tours both domestically and internationally. Notably, as a member of Lantana Trio, she performed at the inaugural Festival Internacional de Mujeres Instrumentistas de Metal (FIMIM) in Mexico in 2023, celebrating women in brass.
An advocate for diversity in the arts, Dr. Samayoa is a sought-after clinician, giving masterclasses, recitals, and presentations at leading universities and professional conferences. Her recent engagements include the College Music Society Southern Conference, the Midwest Clinic, the Historic Brass Society Symposium, the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC), and the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference. She has also been a guest artist at the Prairie Music Residency (Canada), the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, the Interlochen Trumpet Intensive, and events at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Australia) and Moscow Conservatory (Russia). Dr. Samayoa serves on the ITG Board of Directors and has co-hosted the IWBC in 2014 and 2022.
Dr. Samayoa has contributed scholarly articles to The Instrumentalist, Brass Band World, The Brass Herald, and the ITG Journal. In January2020, she published Dueling Fundamentals for Two Trumpets with Mountain Peak Music. In 2021, she released her second solo album, Trumpet Songs,with Summit Records. As a member of Lantana Trio, Raquel released Crossing Barriers in the Fall of 2022 through MSR Classics. This album, featuring works by women and BIPOC composers, includes five new commissions. Dr. Samayoa also contributed to an upcoming album of new compositions for brass quintet with Seraph Brass, set to be released in 2025 by Tower Grove Records.
Dr. Samayoa earned her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas, where she studied with the esteemed Keith Johnson. She holds a Master of Arts and Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from West Texas A&M University, where she studied trumpet with David Ritter and wind conducting with Gary Garner. For more info: https://solotromba.com/
The vast myriad of musical encounters Rachel Velvikis, horn, has accumulated in her almost twenty years as a professional musician validates the reason she chose the profession at the age of ten: music is enormously much bigger than herself; every opportunity to spread its message is a joyous occasion!
As a member of the critically acclaimed female brass quintet, Seraph Brass, Ms. Velvikis has toured the United States, Finland, and Mexico. Members of Seraph Brass have performed with pop icon Adele, and Seraph was the featured ensemble at the 2017 Women’s Brass Conference. They have performed at the Forum Cultural Guanajuato in Mexico, and were guest artists at the 2017 Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. The group returned to Finland the summer of 2018 to give an album release concert as well as two more performances. Seraph Brass recorded their debut album in beautiful Finland, and Summit Records released the album, Asteria, in January 2018.
Upon graduating from the Mannes School of Music where she studied with David Jolley, Rachel was a contracted core member with the Richmond Symphony from the 2008-2011 seasons, one of which saw Rachel as Acting Principal. She has been a permanent member of the Williamsburg Symphony since 2010. Other symphonic appearances include the Virginia Symphony, the Virginia Opera, the Richmond Ballet, the Haddonfield Symphony, the New World Symphony, and the Milwaukee Symphony.
Other notable chamber groups with whom she has worked include the Atlantic Chamber Ensemble, the Eckhart Ensemble, grammy-nominated A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Brass Quintet, and the Richmond Symphony Woodwind Quintet.
She has a thriving private studio both online and around the Richmond, VA area. Since 2011, Rachel has held the position of adjunct faculty at the University of Richmond.
Ms. Velvikis has recorded in several studios which include Space Bomb, Montrose Studios, Red Amp, and Sound Check Studios. Other recordings featuring Ms. Velvikis have been captured in studios across the five boroughs of New York City; Bergin, New Jersey; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nurmes, Finland; and her hometown of Kenosha, WI. She can also be heard on the 2013 Mahler 2 recording with the Virginia Symphony.
Some of her favorite pop orchestral memories include touring with Mannheim Steamroller, playing with Amy Grant, the Indigo Girls, Natalie Merchant, and playing with tribute bands for The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and the Rolling Stones. Unique concerts include Video Games Live, Bugs Bunny Live, Harry Potter in Concert, and playing in The Legend of Zelda Live orchestra. She will likewise not shy away from blasting improvised jazz licks as a regular with one of her favorite bands, the Space Monkey Odyssey.
Memorable freelance experiences in New York during her college years include playing with Olivia Newton-John, performing on live television at the Daytime Emmy Awards, playing in the world debut South African version of “Carmen,” and winning second and principal horn of the New York Youth Symphony for two seasons, respectively.
Christine Purdue Jones is a trombonist with The United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. She is a member of the Ceremonial Brass, a position she has held since 2013.
An active soloist, Jones was featured as a guest artist at the 2021 International Trombone Festival. In 2019, she performed the U.S. premiere of Elgar Howarth’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra with the United States Army Orchestra at the American Trombone Workshop. She has soloed numerous times with Brass of the Potomac, including a performance at the 2017 American Trombone Workshop. Christine is committed to leveraging performance through the whole person concept, and spoke on this topic at the 2019 International Women’s Brass Conference. Additionally, she is an S. E. Shires artist.
Prior to joining the AirForce, Jones was Second/Assistant Principal Trombone with Florida Grand Opera and Palm Beach Symphony. She has also performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, New World Symphony and Palm Beach Opera, among others.
Jones holds degrees from Stetson University, The Juilliard School, and the University of Miami. Her primary teachers include Joe Alessi, Tim Conner, and David Schmidt, and additional studies with Jeff Dee and Pete Ellefson.
Hailing from Oklahoma, Naomi Wharry is a multi-faceted trombonist and vocalist. Music has always been a large part of who she is and how she views the world, and coming from a family of 8, it was a way for her to stand out amongst a sea of children. She has since enjoyed playing and singing all types of music. She now seeks to bring her art to all who wish to hear it!
Although she is currently pursuing a classical degree at Yale University, Naomi enjoys playing both classical and jazz music, believing that beautiful music comes from everywhere and should be explored freely. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with artists such as Andrea Bocelli, John Daversa, Patrick Bartley, and many others. She is a prolific freelance artist, performing in ensembles ranging from local orchestras to various jazz combos where she acts as jazz vocalist as well. As a jazz musician in Oklahoma City, she brought various jazz shows to the city including regular gigs with her quartet as well as tributes to Billie Holiday. Her musical influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Frank Rosolino, JJ Johnson, and many others.
You can find Naomi playing in the Yale Philharmonia and chamber ensembles, teaching with the Yale Music in Schools Initiative, and playing with various chamber groups. In addition to performing, Naomi enjoys comedy, running, yoga, and creating plant-based masterpieces in the kitchen.
India is a Los Angeles based tubist, arranger, and bandleader with style to spare.Unable to be defined by any one genre, she is a multi-faceted musician, well-versed in classical, jazz, pop, funk, R&B, soul, hip hop, salsa, merengue, cha-cha, samba, banda and a myriad of other styles. She prides herself on her unique expression and her ability to emote throughout all of her work, whether it be writing or playing.
Meredith Fuller is a tubist and low brass educator based in the Baltimore area. She received her bachelors of music education and masters in tuba performance from Penn State University and is currently finishing her D.M.A. at the Peabody Institute.
Fuller began playing the tuba in fourth grade when she volunteered to make a sound on the instrument at a Music In Our Schools Month demonstration. Her elementary band teacher picked her because she was a girl and she was small. The rest is history. She realizes that not every young student has as much support and opportunities as she did in public school and beyond. While pursuing a high level of performance, she also values educational outreach and advocacy for marginalized groups in the brass and tuba community.
Meredith served as the adjunct tuba and euphonium professor at Penn State University from 2022-2024 and teaches in Baltimore County Public Schools with the OrchKids program. She is an inaugural member of the Chrysalis Orchestra and has performed at the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) in Denton, TX. She travels internationally with her quintet, Looking Glass Brass, and performs and teaches with her tuba-euphonium duo, 5'Two.
Passionate about the tuba, Claudia Shassberger aims to break traditional stereotypes and showcase the instrument's versatility beyond its perceived "oom pah" role. She is an accomplished orchestral, chamber, and solo tuba player who aspires to establish a career as a chamber musician.
Claudia is originally from Elyria, Ohio. She graduated with honors from Interlochen Arts Academy in 2021. Claudia recently graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University in May of 2025 and is currently pursuing her masters at the Peabody Conservatory. Claudia is an experienced performer who has performed in Carnegie Hall and the New World Center. She became the first tuba player to win the Carnegie Mellon University Concerto Competition. Claudia has attended many summer festivals including Domaine Forget International Music Academy, Bayview Brass Quintet Seminar, and the Cleveland Trombone Seminar.
As a trailblazer for women brass players, Claudia has actively promoted inclusivity and diversity within the music industry. She aims to collaborate with and establish organizations that support women brass players. Claudia is also passionate about teaching the next generation of students. She was a Teaching Assistant at Interlochen Arts Camp working with passionate young musicians from around the world. Claudia hopes to continue this work and inspire the next generation of women tuba players.
