Happy International Women's Day!

Me and Bree vibing in the trumpet section, August 2023

To fend off the Fashion Police, I now wear sparkles 90% of the time

In the past few years, I have noticed a greater presence of social media posts, conversations, and celebrations surrounding International Women’s Day. Being often the only female player performing with Brass Mash, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on my music experiences in this band and as a female brass player. It is a very specific experience to be a minority-gender musician in a band, and it is brought to my attention often. In reflecting on this, I called my friend and former section mate from Brass Mash, Bree Chambers.

First off, why don’t more women play brass? I have actually attended conference sessions (and entire conferences, shout out IWBC!) about this. Essentially it’s a combination of socialization, instrument stereotypes and stereotype threat. Generally, in many parts of US culture, boys are socialized at a young age to take more risks and girls are socialized to be risk-averse. When kids pick up a band instrument for the first time, they may be influenced by members of their family to choose one that “suits their gender” - flutes and clarinets for girls, brass and percussion for boys.

“There’s this stereotype that all trumpet players have huge egos,” Bree commented. “I don’t want to speak to all men or all women. I think most of the players that I’ve encountered that do fit that stereotype are men. It can make the collaboration and vulnerability that you need playing music, kind of hard to experience. Because you’re in this place where, at best they’re just self-involved, and at worst they’re actively putting down people around them because they think they’re the greatest. And that is not something that I’ve felt when I’ve played with other women, especially other women trumpet players. I think the stereotype often gets blanketed toward all trumpet players. There are some outliers for sure, but I have not had the same feeling when playing with male players.”

As young musicians progress, they gravitate to where they see musicians that look like them. In the brass world, it’s a lot of men. I have experienced this in many contexts. In addition to that, more mature music situations involve more exposure - more risk-taking. Because girls are socialized to not seek risks, it can feel more like a conscious skill to develop in every new music situation.

Especially as the trumpet is such an athletic instrument, you really have to be in the zone to trust your body to express itself how you want it to. If you’re in a surrounding where you’re not feeling comfortable with that, then will not go the way you want it to.

Stereotype threat in music is the added mental pressure for a minority to represent their group through their performance. “There is an inherent nervousness there that can get in the way,” Bree added. “The anxiety of ‘Am I doing this right? Am I supposed to be here? What are the people going to do or say around me?’ I think every woman who’s played in a male-majority band has had some sort of comments made about them at some point in time. There’s always the worry that that will happen again in any capacity.”

For me, a related experience that stands out to me didn’t even have to do with my trumpet playing. It was early in my time with Brass Mash, we were playing at a winery event, and I was the only female player for that performance. After we played, and we were chatting with the crowd, a woman came to me and asked if I had any female friends that could maybe “help me with my look.” Which was so confusing to me. First, I liked the outfit that I chose to wear for that daytime performance. Also, why should I need to think about that when my band mates were all just wearing T-shirts and pants? I am not the star of the band. I am one of 8-9 qualified musicians on stage doing the job of playing my trumpet. And like I said, my outfit was rad.

All of these heady societal concepts aside, I have been extremely grateful for the performing environment in Brass Mash. With my substantial background in chamber music, I appreciate collaborative musical leadership (as opposed to an omnipotent conductor whose word is set in stone and will not be swayed by the mortals with horns). With my band colleagues, I have never once felt like my musical suggestions for the group would be dismissed or made fun of. (Can you believe the bar is so low? It took me 8 years of living on the Central Coast before I found a professional group where I felt like my experience was taken seriously.)

Bree, who grew up in SLO, experienced a similar appreciation as a member of Brass Mash. “I’d been in bands, especially brass bands, where I am the only woman - not a woman in sight, for the history of whatever band that was. So it was cool to have Laura in the start, and then you and me, even though there were only two of us - an all-woman trumpet section. Again, previously unheard of. Especially because SLO’s jazz scene is much more male-centric, that was really cool to experience.”

Being a trumpet player is amazing. Being a female trumpet player can also be amazing. “I feel a lot of pride for continuing at an instrument that is dominated not by my gender,” Bree said. “I think that is an asset in itself - persevering against stereotypes, persevering with music no matter what emotions I feel about it, continuing on despite that.” If you love what you are doing, as an artist, you deserve to do it in a place where you feel comfortable in your own skin.

Thank you so much for reading this far and hearing us! Happy International Women’s Day. Keep listening, keep learning, keep sharing. Keep in touch with us! - Stephanie