Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra principal trumpet Ashley Hall-Tighe has received an invitation to join the Canadian Brass, a top brass quintet in North America.
The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music graduate becomes just the second woman to join the group. The first was Manon LaFrance, currently the director of the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal. Hall-Tighe is the first female member of the Toronto-based group since LaFrance’s departure in 2010 after a roughly four-year run.
“Joining Canadian Brass feels like a dream come true,” said Hall-Tighe, an adjunct faculty member in trumpet performance at CCM. The Cincinnati resident is married to fellow trumpeter/singer and pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Nathaniel Tighe. They couple has two children, Morgan and Kevin.
Hall-Tighe is no stranger to Canadian Brass. Her first interaction with the group came in 2001 while she was member of its chamber music residency at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Calif. That same summer, she won the academy’s concerto competition.
“I remember standing on stage in 2001 with Chuck Daellenbach, Gene (Watts, past member), Joe (Burgstaller), Jeff (Nelsen) and Ryan (Anthony, past member) thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be incredible to be in a chamber group like Canadian Brass one day?’” Hall-Tighe recalled.
In announcing the appointment, Canadian Brass – along with management company Opus3 Artists and MünchenMusik, a classical music organizer in Germany – described Hall-Tighe as an accomplished international soloist.
During her two-decade career, she’s performed on four continents and more than 10 countries. She’s showcased in iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
Since 2008, Hall-Tighe has been principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, working on innovative, cross-discipline artistic collaborations through the Summermusik Festival each August.
“It was evident from our very first meeting back then that Ashley was a star in the making,” said Burgstaller, a longtime Canadian Brass member and Hall-Tighe’s new trumpet partner.
(Canadian Brass)
He recalled her engaging music-making and charismatic presence making a lasting impression on all of past and current members of Canadian Brass.
This summer, Hall-Tighe reunited with members of Canadian Brass for a new arena-concert endeavor with Emmy-award winning writer Dave Pierce. Burgstaller said their collaboration on “Andemica” made Hall-Tighe the obvious choice to join the group, which formed back in 1970.
Hall-Tighe described the decision to join Canadian Brass as an easy one. It allows her to connect more deeply with a wide variety of audiences through “the gift of music,” she said.
“I am thrilled to be joining this special group of artists and to be bringing this music to audiences around the world,” Hall-Tighe said.