S.H.O.P. Talk - Representation & Role Models: Tools to Build an Inclusive and Impactful Brass Section
Clinic Synopsis:
Engage in a S.H.O.P talk led by Amanda Collins, Ashley Killam, and Dr. Carrie Blosser focused on the recruitment and retention of beginner band through undergraduate music program brass students. Actively engaging students with a diverse array of brass performers and styles. We will examine the obstacles that often hold players back from continuing in music, and learn about considerations for supporting students.
Amanda Collins
- Biographical Information
Amanda Collins is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Preparatory (certificate), Pennsylvania State University (BM) and Southern Methodist University (MM). Described as “impressively solid” by the Dallas Morning News, Ms. Collins has quickly become a highly sought after performer and educator across the US and abroad. Ms. Collins is a passionate educator and is currently Assistant Teaching Professor of French Horn at the University of Missouri.
?In 2017, Ms. Collins was appointed Principal horn of the Gateways Festival Orchestra, an ensemble featuring professional musicians of African descent. Additionally, Ms. Collins is third horn with the Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra and second horn with the American Studio Orchestra. She has performed with several notable ensembles including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Opera Memphis, Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, and the Lyric Brass Quintet. A dedicated chamber musician, she is a member of the Missouri Quintet and the Mizzou Brass.
A strong supporter of diversity and inclusion in the arts, many of Ms. Collins’ students hail from under-served and underrepresented communities. She is the founder of the MU School of Music Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Collective, as well as founder of the MU Music IDE Committee, serving as chair in its inaugural year. Ms. Collins served on faculty at the Prizm International Chamber Music Festival, where she worked with students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Ashley Killam - Biographical Information
Ashley Killam (she/her) has built a multifaceted career as a passionate entrepreneur, non-profit director, freelancer, trumpet player, advocate, and researcher. Killam is the founder of AK Artist Management and is on a lifelong mission to create a more inclusive artistic space. A champion for creating change within musical programming, Killam launched the first-ever open-source resource for trumpet and brass music by marginalized composers. Since the fall of 2019, she has presented in-person and virtually over 150 times, speaking at international events including the International Women’s Brass Conference, International Trumpet Guild Conference, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Institute, festivals, and university and high school music departments across North America. These presentations have been delivered on topics ranging from building a library of inclusive repertoire to starting a non-profit, commissioning music, and creating a non-traditional career path. Killam’s spreadsheets and extensive knowledge of repertoire kickstarted Diversify the Stand, a Colorado-based non-profit focusing on commissioning accessible educational works by marginalized composers. An agent of change in the brass community, Killam serves as co-chair and founding member of the International Trumpet Guild’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and as member of the New Works Committee. She has served as a preliminary judge for the National Trumpet Competition and is a Board Member and Treasurer for Future in Music, a non-profit focused on education for high-school gender-marginalized brass players.
Carrie Blosser - Biographical Information
Dr. Carrie Blosser is a military musician and co-founder of Diversify the Stand. With Diversify the Stand she helps promote diversity in all aspects of music performance through commissioning, crowdfunding, weekly podcast, book club, and self-publishing. Previously she maintained a Colorado-based studio of 65 students, working closely with multiple schools to deliver weekly clinics, and conducted the Rocky Mountain Concert Band. Dr. Blosser was the Director of Bands at Cooper Jr. and Sr. High School in Texas. Her students’ achievements include selection to Pennsylvania, Texas, and Colorado All-State Bands and the National Trumpet Competition. Dr. Blosser is the co-chair and founding member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee with the International Trumpet Guild (ITG). She is the Competition Coordinator for the National Trumpet Competition and is an active member of the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC), serving as an invited mentor and editor for the IWBC newsletter. Dr. Blosser received her B.S. in Music Ed from Messiah College, M.M. in Music Education and Trumpet Performance from the University of Northern Colorado, and D.M.A in Brass Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
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