Breaking the Brass Ceiling

I began developing "Breaking the Brass Ceiling: Unpacking Gender Imbalance in Brass Performance" in 2019 as a lecture-recital to shed light on the psychological and sociological complexities at the heart of gender disparity in the brass world.

"Breaking the Brass Ceiling" is a living project, shaped by historical and modern accounts of sexism in brass performance. I recently shared its contents in an academic presentation at the 2024 SHE: Women in Music Festival at the University of Arkansas.

This project grows alongside me as I navigate the professional brass world and I am grateful to have a platform to share my synthesis of research, life experience, and advocacy. At this time, my work is unpublished, but I look forward to sharing its progress.

The Project:


The Works List:

I have curated lists of compositions by gender-marginalized composers of repertoire for the tuba and euphonium. Please browse and feel free to contact me if you are a composer who would like to be added to the list or if you are a composer who would like to be removed from the list.

I am inspired by the underrepresented composer works lists compiled by Caiti Beth McKinney for horn and Ashley Killam for trumpet and brass ensembles. Expanding upon this work to the tuba/euphonium repertoire is an honor. Out of respect for the work already completed, my works list is specific to euphonium/tuba repertoire and low brass chamber music.

For further direction on repertoire of other brass instruments, larger mixed chamber ensembles, brass ensembles, brass quintets, and more by underrepresented composers, here are some excellent resources:

Ashley Killam’s Repertoire Catalog of Trumpet (and Brass) Works by Gender-Marginalized People and/or Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color

Amy Dunker’s Trumpet Music by Women Composers

Boulanger Initiative Database

Caiti Beth McKinney’s REPresent: Repertoire for Horn by Underrepresented Composers

Lin Foulk Baird’s Catalogue of Works with Horn by Women Composers

Natalie Mannix’s Women Composer Database of Trombone Works