Featured Artists

ASHLEY HALL-TIGHE

Ashley Hall-Tighe is an internationally renowned musician, educator and certified life coach. With her exuberant and relatable approach and her passion for building authentic and meaningful connections, Ashley enjoys engaging audiences as a soloist and ensemble musician, facilitating coaching courses, working with individuals in her private coaching practice, and leading professional and personal development workshops.

Ashley’s work as a soloist has taken her around the world. 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). Performing as a soloist both with ensembles and as a recitalist, 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. 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.

In 2019, she was the first trumpeter to perform for the esteemed concert series, Matinee Musicale in Cincinnati, OH. Of this performance, classical music critic Janelle Gelfand said, “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.”

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.

As an educator, Ashley combines her passion for whole-person development with a methodical approach to trumpet improvement. Her teaching on respiratory mechanics, strategic practice planning, upper register development, as well as her personal stories of growth make her one of the most sought-after guest clinicians and educators on the trumpet. She has served on the faculties of the University of Dayton, St. Olaf College, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Longy School of Music of Bard College.

Ashley was the founding director of the Longy School of Music’s Career Coaching Program from 2019-2022, which helps students develop careers that align with their values. She hosted a weekly speaker series at Longy, “The Multifaceted Career”, and interviewed over 60 artist leaders who embody an expansive, integrated narrative of holistic career success. Ashley is an Associate Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation and trained with Co-Active Training Institute and Graydin. In her private coaching practice Ashley offers individual coaching sessions that empower artists to unlock their potential and align their values with their creative lives. She is a Certified Start with Heart Facilitator through Graydin and leads professional development coaching courses for institutions seeking cultural transformation.

Ashley is married to trumpeter/singer/arranger and pediatric anesthesiologist Dr. Nathaniel Tighe. They currently reside in Cincinnati, OH with their two children, Morgan and Kevin and dog, Pippa.

https://www.ashleyhalltighe.com/

NORTH TEXAS ONE O'CLOCK LAB BAND

The One O’Clock Lab Band, under the direction of Alan Baylock, is the premier performing ensemble of the internationally acclaimed University of North Texas jazz studies program. With an unprecedented seven Grammy Award® nominations (one or more per decade and under every director since the 70s: Lab ‘75, Lab ‘76, Lab ‘89, Lab ‘91, Lab 2009, Lab 2015) from the library of over eighty critically acclaimed recordings to date, the One O’Clock Lab Band is noted for exceptional individual musicianship and tight ensemble performance. Concerts feature the wealth of compositions and arrangements from the UNT jazz library written by current and former North Texas students, by director Alan Baylock, by Grammy-nominated composers Neil Slater, Steve Wiest, and Rich DeRosa (jazz composition faculty), the Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, and Bob and Darlene Curnow Jazz Libraries (all housed exclusively at North Texas), in addition to library classics and the finest contemporary writers in jazz.

The One O’Clock Lab Band has toured internationally with great success over the decades, performing in Russia, Mexico, Switzerland, England, France, The Netherlands, Australia, Portugal, Finland, Norway, Canada, Italy, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Poland, Ireland, and Thailand, where the band performed for the King of Thailand and His Majesty chose to “sit in” with the band. The band has toured the major jazz festivals including Monterey, Cork/Guinness, Montreux (first college band to do so), Vienne, North Sea, Spoleto, Pori and Umbria. In 2010 the band attended the 52nd Grammy Awards while touring in California. The One O’Clock has performed by Presidential invitation at the White House, joined on stage by Duke Ellington and Stan Getz. The band frequently appears at major jazz venues such as Birdland (NYC), Blues Alley (DC), Catalina's (LA), and as the headliner at jazz festivals, music conferences, and concerts hosted by numerous fine arts series, colleges and high schools across the United States and around the world.

The jazz studies degree program at North Texas began in 1946 under Dr. Gene Hall (’47–’59), gained national recognition under Dr. Leon Breeden (’59–’81), and achieved international renown under Neil Slater (’81–’08). The One O’Clock Lab Band’s tradition of excellence continued under Steve Wiest (’08–’14) and Jay Saunders (’14–’16), and is now under the skillful leadership of Alan Baylock. The UNT jazz faculty, chaired by Rob Parton, is the foundation of the North Texas jazz studies division. Seventeen full-time faculty members provide UNT jazz studies students with an educational environment unparalleled among university programs.

http://oneoclock.unt.edu/