Brass Flexibilities

Ashley Roberts

IWBC interviews Ashley Roberts Ashley Roberts is a freelance trombonist and educator. As an active performer, Ashley frequently plays with the Amarillo Symphony. Ashley has performed twice with the International Trombone Festival Women’s Choir, and performed at the International Trombone Festival, the International Women’s Brass Conference, the Big 12 Trombone Conference, the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, and Carnegie Hall. As an educator, she has also been a private trombone teacher for over a decade, educating students from Central Arkansas, the DFW area, and the Texas Panhandle. Ashley is an activist for equality in the brass community, and has shown this through her work as the creator and host of the Redefining the Musician podcast, and the creation of the Denton Brass Collective – a brass ensemble that celebrated women brass musicians in the DFW area. She has also been involved in the International Women’s Brass Conference, as a competitor and finalist for the competitions, as well as the Volunteer Coordinator for the Festival. Her passion is making music accessible and fair for everyone. She currently holds a position in the Amarillo Tourism office, interacting often with the members of the local arts community. Before her move to Amarillo, she worked with the Plano Symphony Orchestra. Ashley holds a Master of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of North Texas, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Trombone Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Central Arkansas. She resides in Amarillo, Texas with her fiancé, Ben Hahn.

Natalia Vela

IWBC Interviews Natalia Vela Natalia Vela is a teacher and freelance performer based in East Lansing, Michigan.

CU Boulder Trumpet Quintet, 2025 NTC Winners

In this episode of Brass Flexibilities, we join the members of the 2025 all-women trumpet quintet from CU Boulder to discuss their historic first place win at the 2025 National Trumpet Competition. Come behind the scenes to learn about some of the preparation, collaboration, and impact this performance has made on the students of this ensemble, as well as the brass community at large.

Becky Pepper

IWBC Interviews Becky Pepper Becky is a multifaceted musician, working as trombonist, teacher, educator and facilitator, arranger and transcriber, writer and critic and advocate for instrumental music education and performance.

Anne McNamara

An interview with Anne McNamara Anne McNamara is the Associate Professor of Trumpet at Illinois State University where her duties involve teaching applied trumpet, performing in the ISU faculty brass quintet, and serving as the Associate Director of the School of Music. In addition to her duties at ISU, Dr. McNamara works regularly as a freelance trumpeter including recent performances with Athena Brass Band, Sinfonia de Camera, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Fountain City Brass Band,Heartland Festival Orchestra, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Louisville Orchestra and Louisville Master Chorale.