Trumpet Soloist & Chamber Musician

Ashley Hall-Tighe is an internationally renowned trumpet soloist, chamber musician, clinician, and coach.  With a performing career that spans over two decades, Ashley’s mission is to create musical environments that encourage curiosity, connection, and deep personal engagement with her audiences. From the Sydney Opera House to the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China, she radiates an “energetic joy” (Rochester Post Bulletin) through her “warm tone, stunning technique and expressive artistry” (Cincinnati Enquirer). Since 2008, Ashley has been the principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, enjoying the multidisciplinary collaborations and innovative programming of the Summermusik Festival each August. From August 2023-May 2024, Ashley was a touring member of Canadian Brass, performing concerts around the world and entertaining audiences in the iconic and light-hearted style for which the group is known.  

Ashley’s work as a soloist and chamber musician has taken her around the world. 2024 highlights include solo performances with the Roanoke Symphony and Rock Hill Symphony as well as recitals in Hong Kong, Australia, and throughout the United States. In addition to becoming the second woman to join Canadian Brass, Ashley has done numerous tours with the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass and Stiletto Brass Quintet and was one of the founding members of the electro-acoustic trumpet quintet, Fifth Bridge and the all-female quintet, Seraph Brass.

As an active recording artist, Ashley frequently enjoys time in the studio collaborating on new projects.  Ashley is releasing her debut solo album with pianist Ana Maria Otamendi, Upcycle, in the fall of 2024. This collection of transcriptions for trumpet and piano was created by Ashley’s husband Nathaniel Tighe, and it honors the artist’s common European classical roots while presenting a vision of what might have been possible if the modern trumpet was a solo instrument at the time these works were conceived. She recorded a new CD in 2018 called “JUHLAT: Festivals and Celebrations” with the Brass Septet, Ameriikan Poijat. In 2019, she was one of the featured artists on the International Trumpet Guild’s recordings of the Brandt Etudes.  Ashley also recorded a PBS Special with Carolina Brass and the North Carolina Master Chorale called the “Joy of the Season” which was aired every holiday season between 2017-2019.  “Christmas Wrapped in Brass” (2017) also features Ashley in the solo cornet section of the North Carolina Brass Band.  In the fall of 2007, Ashley released her debut album entitled, "Behold Him", a collection of hymns for solo trumpet, and she has recorded two CD’s with EUROBRASS, “Give Thanks to the Lord”, and “Worthy is the Lord.” 

Ashley’s passion for community engagement through the arts has taken on many iterations over the years but remains a focus of everything she does as an artist. As a soloist, she looks for opportunities to personally engage with audiences–creating an atmosphere of musical reciprocity.  She creates entry points for their experience of the music and intentionally allows space for audiences to connect with her in a personal way. Additionally, she and her husband, Nathaniel Tighe, developed a show called “Art and Music: Making the Connection” which was featured in over 60 Dayton public schools and community venues.  She also developed an interactive, multi-media brass quintet show called “Folk Tales: The Art of Story” which has been featured at the Cincinnati Children’s Theatre and the Forsyth County Public Library.   

Ashley is on the trumpet faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

She holds a bachelor's degree in trumpet performance from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and an artist diploma from the Longy School of Music.

She proudly endorses GR Mouthpieces.

  • "Ashley is truly a world-class soloist, and I have had the privilege of making music with her professionally now for over 20 years. As Music Director and Conductor of both Virginia's Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Long Island in New York, I have the option of hiring artists from all over the world. I have on several occasions engaged Ashley because of her extraordinary communicative abilities as soloist - she is a joy to work with in every respect."

    David Stewart Wiley

    Music Director & Conductor/Roanoke Symphony Orchestra (VA)

  • “In each piece, she displayed a warm tone, stunning technique and expressive artistry. Best of all was the joy she found in each note, and that communicated to the audience.”

    Janelle Gelfand

    Classical Music Critic

  • "Hall took up a cornet for the crowd-pleasing showpiece, Arban’s Variations on “The Carnival of Venice.” She soared through hurdles such as trills, chromatic scales and leaps with dazzling virtuosity, sometimes interrupted by cheers from the audience. Her final variation was an impressive feat of filigree played simultaneously with the melody.”

    The Cincinnati Inquirer

  • "Hall’s clear and concise comments before each unique piece were as captivating as the energetic joy she radiated while playing them.”

    Rochester Post Bulletin

Contact Ashley

Please reach out if you’re interested in Recitals or Solo Performances