2024 Guest Artist Raquel Samayoa Raquel Samayoa leads a multi-faceted career as a teacher, soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. 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 is a founding member of Lantana Trio, a brass trio comprised of UNT Brass Faculty. 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. An avid chamber musician, Raquel is a founding member of the award-winning Lantana Trio and has been a member of Seraph Brass since 2016. With these groups, she frequently tours the US and abroad performing concerts and presenting masterclasses and clinics.
As a pedagogue, clinician, and proponent of diversity in the arts, she is regularly invited to give masterclasses, recitals, and panel discussions at universities and professional conferences, most recently the College Music Society Southern Conference, Midwest Clinic, Historic Brass Society Symposium, International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) and the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference. She has been a guest artist at Prairie Music Residency (SK, Canada), Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, Interlochen Trumpet Intensive, Brass Day of the Melbourne Conservatorium (AU), and the Brass Day of the Moscow Conservatory (RUS). Dr. Samayoa is a member of both the ITG and IWBC Board of Directors and served as a co-host for the 2022 and 2014 IWBC.
Her articles have been published in The Instrumentalist, The Brass Herald and the ITG Journal. In January 2020, Dr. Samayoa released her first publication with Mountain Peak Music entitled Dueling Fundamentals for Two Trumpets. She released her 2nd solo album entitled, Trumpet Songs, with Summit Records in 2021. As a member of Lantana Trio, Raquel released Crossing Barriers with MSR Classics in the Fall of 2022. This album features works by women and BIPOC composers, including five new commissions. As a member of Seraph Brass, Raquel recorded an album of new compositions for brass quintet for Tower Grove Records. This album will be released in the Fall of 2024.
Dr. Samayoa holds the DMA in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas where she studied with renowned trumpet pedagogue, Keith Johnson. She earned the MA and Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from West Texas A&M University where she studied trumpet with Mr. David Ritter and Wind Conducting with Dr. Gary Garner.
Raquel is principal trumpet with the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (TX) and a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick Artist and Clinician. An avid chamber musician, Raquel is a founding member of the award-winning Lantana Trio and has been a member of Seraph Brass since 2016. With these groups, she frequently tours the US and abroad performing concerts and presenting masterclasses and clinics.
As a pedagogue, clinician, and proponent of diversity in the arts, she is regularly invited to give masterclasses, recitals, and panel discussions at universities and professional conferences, most recently the College Music Society Southern Conference, Midwest Clinic, Historic Brass Society Symposium, International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) and the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference. She has been a guest artist at Prairie Music Residency (SK, Canada), Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, Interlochen Trumpet Intensive, Brass Day of the Melbourne Conservatorium (AU), and the Brass Day of the Moscow Conservatory (RUS). Dr. Samayoa is a member of both the ITG and IWBC Board of Directors and served as a co-host for the 2022 and 2014 IWBC.
Her articles have been published in The Instrumentalist, The Brass Herald and the ITG Journal. In January 2020, Dr. Samayoa released her first publication with Mountain Peak Music entitled Dueling Fundamentals for Two Trumpets. She released her 2nd solo album entitled, Trumpet Songs, with Summit Records in 2021. As a member of Lantana Trio, Raquel released Crossing Barriers with MSR Classics in the Fall of 2022. This album features works by women and BIPOC composers, including five new commissions. As a member of Seraph Brass, Raquel recorded an album of new compositions for brass quintet for Tower Grove Records. This album will be released in the Fall of 2024.
Dr. Samayoa holds the DMA in Trumpet Performance from the University of North Texas where she studied with renowned trumpet pedagogue, Keith Johnson. She earned the MA and Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from West Texas A&M University where she studied trumpet with Mr. David Ritter and Wind Conducting with Dr. Gary Garner.
2024 Guest Artist John Parker Praised by concertonet.com for bringing “nuance and individual expression to each solo passage, as though he were telling a richly embroidered story”, John Parker is one of the most prominent solo and orchestral trumpeters in the country today. Parker, a native of High Point, North Carolina, joined the Houston Symphony in May of 2016 as Associate Principal Trumpet. Previously, he was Principal Trumpet with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, a position he attained after his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). While at UNC, Parker was a recipient of the Kenan Music Scholarship and the Frank Comfort Education Scholarship. He attended the Aspen Music Festival and School on a full fellowship in both 2012 and 2013 and has also performed twice as a soloist at the National Trumpet Competition.
In addition to his positions in Charlotte and Houston, Parker has performed as Guest Principal Trumpet with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Charleston Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, and Greensboro Symphony. He has also performed as Assistant Principal Trumpet at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and will perform as Guest Principal Trumpet at the 2024 Music in the Mountains festival in Colorado.
Parker has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist multiple times, including several occasions during his tenure with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. While in Charlotte, he performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Trumpet, and Karl Jenkin’s Stella Natalis. In June of 2018, Parker had the privilege to perform Oscar Böhme’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra with the Houston Symphony. He has also enjoyed numerous solo appearances with the Houston Brass Band and the Magnolia City Brass Band during his time in Houston. In August of 2024 he will collaborate with his brother, Dr. Robert Parker, second trombone of the Des Moines Symphony and Principal Trombone of the Quad City Symphony, on a newer arrangement by Arthur Gottschalk of Derek Bourgeois’ Trio for Trumpet, Trombone, and Piano. This performance will be in August 2024 with the Magnolia City Brass Band at the Round Top Festival Institute. Also in 2024, Parker will perform as a soloist on Jean-François Michel’s Eastwind for trumpet, trombone and wind band with the Dawson High School Wind Ensemble at the annual Midwest Clinic.
Parker is an active educator and maintains a private studio serving the Houston Area. He has given masterclasses and recitals at various universities throughout the country, including UNC Chapel Hill, UNC- Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC School of the Arts, the University of South Carolina, Baylor University, Texas Tech University, Gardner Webb University, Winthrop University, Lone Star College, and the University of Iowa.
Parker enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife of 7 years, Amy. They particularly cherish outdoor activities, especially hiking. Parker also enjoys other outdoor hobbies, including golf and gardening.
In addition to his positions in Charlotte and Houston, Parker has performed as Guest Principal Trumpet with the Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Houston Grand Opera, Charleston Symphony, Roanoke Symphony, and Greensboro Symphony. He has also performed as Assistant Principal Trumpet at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and will perform as Guest Principal Trumpet at the 2024 Music in the Mountains festival in Colorado.
Parker has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist multiple times, including several occasions during his tenure with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. While in Charlotte, he performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Trumpet, and Karl Jenkin’s Stella Natalis. In June of 2018, Parker had the privilege to perform Oscar Böhme’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra with the Houston Symphony. He has also enjoyed numerous solo appearances with the Houston Brass Band and the Magnolia City Brass Band during his time in Houston. In August of 2024 he will collaborate with his brother, Dr. Robert Parker, second trombone of the Des Moines Symphony and Principal Trombone of the Quad City Symphony, on a newer arrangement by Arthur Gottschalk of Derek Bourgeois’ Trio for Trumpet, Trombone, and Piano. This performance will be in August 2024 with the Magnolia City Brass Band at the Round Top Festival Institute. Also in 2024, Parker will perform as a soloist on Jean-François Michel’s Eastwind for trumpet, trombone and wind band with the Dawson High School Wind Ensemble at the annual Midwest Clinic.
Parker is an active educator and maintains a private studio serving the Houston Area. He has given masterclasses and recitals at various universities throughout the country, including UNC Chapel Hill, UNC- Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC School of the Arts, the University of South Carolina, Baylor University, Texas Tech University, Gardner Webb University, Winthrop University, Lone Star College, and the University of Iowa.
Parker enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife of 7 years, Amy. They particularly cherish outdoor activities, especially hiking. Parker also enjoys other outdoor hobbies, including golf and gardening.
2024 Guest Artist Tito Carrillo Tito Carrillo is a trumpeter, composer, and educator whose music blurs the lines between Afro-Caribbean music traditions and modern jazz. Born and raised in Austin, TX to a Puerto Rican father and Mexican-American mother, Carrillo came to prominence in the mid-90’s in Chicago’s rich jazz and Latin music scenes, becoming a top call soloist, bandleader, and freelance trumpet artist. The Chicago Tribune describes him as having “acquired a reputation as a fluid improviser, doubly blessed with a warm lyric style and technique to burn.”
The artists he has collaborated with are as diverse as his skill set: Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, Ryan Cohan, and Geof Bradfield; Chicago Latin groups Chinchano (Juan Pastor) and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble (Victor Garcia); big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker); salsa legends Andy Montañez, Cheo Feliciano, and Cuban flutist Orlando “Maraca” Valle; jazz greats such as Kurt Elling, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins.
Carrillo released his debut solo album in 2011, entitled Opening Statement (Origin Records), to rave reviews. His most recent project Urbanessence (Origin Records), was released in October 2022 to much critical acclaim, and was selected as one of the top Latin music albums of 2023 by the North American College and Community (NACC) Radio Chart.
Tito Carrillo possesses a passion for sharing his knowledge and inspiring future generations through jazz education. He has served on the faculties of Roosevelt University, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, where he served for 17 years as a full-time professor of jazz trumpet beginning in 2006. In the fall of 2023, Carrillo began his new role as Associate Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Texas State University.
He has taught at secondary and collegiate music programs across the U.S. and Latin America. Recently, he has directed his passion for teaching towards the launch in 2022 of his YouTube channel JAZZMIND, where he shares his expertise in trumpet techniques, jazz improvisation, and mindfulness for musicians. His long list of former students includes many who have established careers as both performers and educators and have won international jazz competitions at the highest level.
The artists he has collaborated with are as diverse as his skill set: Chicago heavyweights Willie Pickens, Ryan Cohan, and Geof Bradfield; Chicago Latin groups Chinchano (Juan Pastor) and the Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble (Victor Garcia); big bands such as the Woody Herman Orchestra, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, and the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra (David Baker); salsa legends Andy Montañez, Cheo Feliciano, and Cuban flutist Orlando “Maraca” Valle; jazz greats such as Kurt Elling, Claudio Roditi, Jon Faddis, and Paquito D’Rivera; and pop icons Quincy Jones and Phil Collins.
Carrillo released his debut solo album in 2011, entitled Opening Statement (Origin Records), to rave reviews. His most recent project Urbanessence (Origin Records), was released in October 2022 to much critical acclaim, and was selected as one of the top Latin music albums of 2023 by the North American College and Community (NACC) Radio Chart.
Tito Carrillo possesses a passion for sharing his knowledge and inspiring future generations through jazz education. He has served on the faculties of Roosevelt University, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, where he served for 17 years as a full-time professor of jazz trumpet beginning in 2006. In the fall of 2023, Carrillo began his new role as Associate Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Texas State University.
He has taught at secondary and collegiate music programs across the U.S. and Latin America. Recently, he has directed his passion for teaching towards the launch in 2022 of his YouTube channel JAZZMIND, where he shares his expertise in trumpet techniques, jazz improvisation, and mindfulness for musicians. His long list of former students includes many who have established careers as both performers and educators and have won international jazz competitions at the highest level.