Bethany Vaughan is an active freelance trumpet player and educator currently residing in the Chicago area. She is a member of Axiom Brass.
She has performed with orchestras all over the country, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, among others.
In addition to playing with Axiom, Bethany has performed with Seraph Brass, 3rd Coast Brass, Stiletto Brass, and Monarch Brass. As a member of Talos Brass, she was named a finalist in the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition.
Bethany also loves to teach and is the trumpet coach at Niles West High School in Skokie, IL in addition to maintaining her private studio.
A native of Houston, TX, at eight years old Bethany fell in love with the cornet, later switching to trumpet and attending Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (while studying with former Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony, James Austin).
Bethany then completed a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance with a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, where she studied modern trumpet with John Rommel and baroque trumpet with Kris Kwapis. She can be heard with the IU Wind Ensemble on an album of Beethoven chamber music recorded on the Naxos label. Bethany has experience in many styles of music; while at Indiana, she was a member of Mariachi Perle del Medio Oeste, the IU Brass Band, and Latin fusion band Matixando, in addition to participating in the more "standard" ensembles.
After graduating from IU in 2021, Bethany received a full scholarship to pursue her masters degree at Northwestern University, where she studied with Michael Sachs (Principal Trumpet- the Cleveland Orchestra), Thomas Rolfs (Principal Trumpet- the Boston Symphony) and David Bilger (recently retired Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra) before graduating in 2023.
Bethany has spent summers as a trumpet fellow at the Round Top Festival Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School (as a member of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra), the Texas Music Festival, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra Mentorship Program. She has performed at both Bravo! Vail and the Blossom Music Center and been a Resident Artist at the Caroga Lake Music Festival.
In her free time, Bethany loves to play pickle ball, read, run, and play her Switch.
BIOGRAPHY
PC: Jeff Osarczuk
Bethany Vaughan is an active freelance trumpet player and educator currently residing in the Chicago area. She is a member of Axiom Brass.
She has performed with orchestras all over the country, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, among others.
In the chamber music sphere, Bethany has performed with Seraph Brass and Monarch Brass. As a member of Talos Brass, she was named a finalist in the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition.
Bethany also loves to teach and is the trumpet coach at Niles West High School in Skokie, IL in addition to maintaining her private studio.
A native of Houston, TX, at eight years old Bethany fell in love with the cornet, later switching to trumpet and attending Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (while studying with former Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony, James Austin).
Bethany then completed a Bachelor of Music in Trumpet Performance with a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies at Indiana University Bloomington, where she studied modern trumpet with John Rommel and baroque trumpet with Kris Kwapis. She can be heard with the IU Wind Ensemble on an album of Beethoven chamber music recorded on the Naxos label. Bethany has experience in many styles of music; while at Indiana, she was a member of Mariachi Perle del Medio Oeste, the IU Brass Band, and Latin fusion band Matixando, in addition to participating in the more "standard" ensembles.
After graduating from IU in 2021, Bethany received a full scholarship to pursue her masters degree at Northwestern University, where she studied with Michael Sachs (Principal Trumpet- the Cleveland Orchestra), Thomas Rolfs (Principal Trumpet- the Boston Symphony) and David Bilger (recently retired Principal Trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra) before graduating in 2023.
Bethany has spent summers as a trumpet fellow at the Round Top Festival Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School (as a member of the Aspen Conducting Academy Orchestra), the Texas Music Festival, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra Mentorship Program. She has performed at both Bravo! Vail and the Blossom Music Center and been a Resident Artist at the Caroga Lake Music Festival.
In her free time, Bethany loves to play pickle ball, read, run, and play her Switch.
