Orchestral Brilliance

Ashley Hall-Tighe is an internationally renowned trumpet soloist, educator, and certified life 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 has taken her around the world. Performing as a soloist both with ensembles and as a recitalist, 2024 highlights include solo performances with the Roanoke Symphony, Springboro Wind Symphony and Rock Hill Symphony as well as recitals in Hong Kong, Australia, and throughout the United States. 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 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 and life coach, Ashley combines her passion for whole-person development with a methodical approach to improvement. She is on the trumpet faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and is a sought-after clinician at music schools around the country. In addition to working with students directly, she frequently lectures on strategic practice planning as well as respiratory mechanics in collaboration with her physician/musician husband, Nathaniel Tighe. Ashley is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and through her coaching practice, she empowers individuals to unlock their potential and align their lives with their values. 

To learn more about Ashley's expansive music-making journey visit www.ashleyhalltighe.com, or follow her on Instagram @ashleyhalltighe to see frequent updates from her life both on the road and at her log cabin home with her husband and two amazing children.

Gary Fry is an Emmy-winning composer, arranger, producer, conductor, and music educator. He has crafted music for recordings, films, commercials, publication, and live performance. Significant credits include his work as arranger/composer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Welcome, Yule! holiday concerts for nearly 20 years, his current position as arranger/composer for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Pops programs, artistic consultant to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for their annual Christmas Celebration concerts, and over 100 commissions for Christmas and holiday music from those orchestras and others from around the nation. In addition, many universities and prominent churches have commissioned new Christmas compositions and arrangements from Gary. His album of Christmas music, entitled ​The Song in Our Hearts, was released in 2023 and can be heard on the various streaming platforms, or ordered on CD from this website.

Long one of the nation's foremost commercial music producers, Gary has written and produced over 2500 nationally broadcast radio and television commercials for companies such as McDonald's, Sears, United Airlines, Kellogg's, the U.S. Air Force, and hundreds of other advertisers. He won an Emmy Award in 2006 for his original commercial music for WBBM-TV (Chicago). Recently, Gary orchestrated and conducted music for the PBS nature special To the Ends of the Earth.

This unique combination of symphonic skills and commercial experience has made him an in-demand music writer for organizations looking for the highest-quality compositions and arrangements that also appeal to a broad audience. His deep background in the recording studio and expertise in maximizing digital recording techniques has proven valuable to clients for CD production. The Rock Hill (SC) Symphony commissioned an opening overture for the 2024 BMX World Championships and now plan to record the work, which will also open their 2024-2025 concert season.

Gary also has a passion for working with young people, particularly in choral music. Children's choirs under his direction have performed at the White House, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center in Washington, and Carnegie Hall. He remains active as a clinician, lecturer, and conductor for ensembles in all levels of education from elementary schools to universities. 

The Provision Theater in Chicago often utilizes Gary as a composer of music for the stage. He has written music for eight of their theatrical productions, including the Jeff-nominated Spoon River Anthology, was music director for the critically acclaimed Old Wicked Songs, and most recently provided music for Nicodemus​.

Gary and his wife Carol live in the Charlotte, NC, area, where two of their four grown children live with their families. Gary is also the father of Cody Fry, a Grammy-nominated, Nashville-based singer-songwriter and producer, and often acts as conductor for his performances with symphony orchestras around the country, including the Atlanta Symphony, the Ann Arbor Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, and the Oregon Symphony. To find out more about Cody, click here to visit www.codyfry.com.