Featuring Jeffery Curnow, trumpet; Katy Ambrose, horn; David Murray, trombone; Matt Hightower, tuba | Faculty Recital

Repertoire
Kevin McKee: Alpenpass and Riverrun (2023)
Cait Nishimura: she danced in the rain (2018/25)
Lauren Bernofsky: Two Latin Dances (2015/21)
Anthony Plog: Sonata (2003/10)
Michael Tilson Thomas: Street Song (1988)

About the Artists

Jason Bergman is professor of music in trumpet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. A highly accomplished performer, he has appeared across the United States, South America, Europe, and China, earning recognition for his artistry and versatility. An esteemed American trumpeter and educator, Bergman began his orchestral career in 2008 as associate principal trumpet of the Santiago Philharmonic in Chile and has since held principal trumpet positions with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Mobile Opera. He has also performed with the Utah, Milwaukee, and Fort Worth symphonies, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Winds. His collaborations include performances with the Canadian Brass and Rhythm & Brass as well as an appearance at Carnegie Hall. He was also a fellow at the Music Academy of the West. A sought-after soloist and clinician, Bergman has presented recitals and master classes at institutions worldwide and has performed and lectured at leading conferences. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Royal Belgian Air Force Band, Mahidol Brass Band, and the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music Wind Ensemble, among others. A committed educator, he has taught at a host of U.S. and international music festivals. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he held faculty positions at the University of North Texas and the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received both the Class of ’49 Young Scholar Award and the Nina Bell Suggs Endowed Professorship. An active leader in the trumpet community, Bergman served as president of the International Trumpet Guild (2021-23). He is a frequent adjudicator for the National Trumpet Competition, hosting its 2018 edition. Bergman’s scholarly contributions include authorship for the Grove Dictionary of American Music and editorial work for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. As a recording artist, he has released three critically acclaimed solo albums and a chamber music album with Brassworks on the MSR label. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets.

Kimberly Carballo is senior lecturer in music in chamber and collaborative music and director of the Jacobs Virtual Academy at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She joined the Chamber and Collaborative Music Department in 2016, its inaugural year. Carballo is an active international performer and educator, teaching both at the Jacobs School and in her private studio. She is a strong believer in and practitioner of community engagement locally and globally. She founded Reimagining Opera for Kids, a music community engagement and education program based in Bloomington, Indiana, and participates annually as a faculty advisor for the IU portion of the team in the Cheerful Heart Music Education Mission in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. She is a founding member of the Amity Trio, a chamber ensemble that commissions and performs new music in order to amplify underrepresented voices. Carballo is also part of the inaugural and ongoing team for Tunaweza Kimuziki (Through Music All is Possible), a project promoting exchange among music educators, scholars, and performers in Kenya and the United States. Carballo earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University (Individualized Major Program) in Music Theory, and a Master of Music in Music Theory from the Jacobs School of Music. She studied piano with Michel Block and Christopher Harding and chamber music with Leonard Hokanson.

Katy Ambrose is assistant professor of music in horn at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She previously was faculty at the University of Iowa and taught at the University of Virginia. During summers, she teaches at the Bay View Music Festival Brass Seminar in Petoskey, Michigan, and served on the faculty for the Interlochen Horn Intensive in June 2026. An avid chamber musician, Ambrose is a member of Mirari Brass Quintet, Lanta Horn Duo, and Conica natural horn quartet, and was a founding member of Seraph Brass. She has been featured at the International Women’s Brass Conference, Virginia Arts Festival, Historic Brass Society, and the International Trombone Festival, and is a regular performer and presenter for the International Horn Society (IHS). She was recently elected to the advisory board of the IHS and serves on the editorial committee for its journal, The Horn Call. Ambrose has held orchestral positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, and Lexington Philharmonic. She has also performed as a substitute with numerous orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Pops, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic (South Korea), Richmond Symphony, and the Virginia Symphony. She has performed on natural horn with Philharmonie Austin, Madison Bach Musicians, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, and Staunton Music Festival. Outside of orchestral music, her favorite memories are performing with Adele on her 2016 world tour and recording jingles for the Super Bowl. Ambrose was named a University of Iowa “Champion for Student Success” three times, a student-nominated honor, and was a 2025-26 research fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library, where she studied the musical life of Washington’s enslaved huntsman, William Lee. She resides in Bloomington with her husband, Carsten, a software engineer and amateur violinist, their nine-year-old twin sons, and their cat, Milo.

Jeffrey Curnow is professor of music in trumpet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He began his career as an undergraduate at Temple University, where he quickly won a coveted position as concerto competition soloist at the Philadelphia Academy of Music. In 1983, Curnow was appointed principal trumpet of the New Haven Symphony and soon after, became a member of the New York Trumpet Ensemble, recording on the MMG/Vox and Newport Classics labels. Four years later, he joined the internationally renowned Empire Brass Quintet. Over the course of his tenure with this ensemble, he recorded 15 compact discs for the Angel EMI and Telarc labels, appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, St. Paul Sunday Morning, Taipei Television, Japan Television, and BBC Television and Radio, and performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and major orchestras in Japan and Switzerland. In 1995, Curnow was appointed principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, recording 14 CDs on the Delos label and appearing as soloist on several occasions, notably for Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. In 2001, he joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as associate principal trumpet, touring worldwide with the ensemble and recording on the Ondine and Deutsche Grammophon labels. Well established as an educator, Curnow has taught at the University of Connecticut, Boston University, Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, the Royal Academy of Music in London, Temple University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Temple University.

Matt Hightower is assistant professor of music in tuba and euphonium at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Prior to his appointment at the Jacobs School, he held similar positions at the University of Kentucky (UK) and Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Hightower’s professional performance experience covers a wide range of chamber, orchestral, and solo music, spanning three continents and nine countries. He is a prizewinner of international solo competitions and has presented master classes to tuba/euphonium students around the world. His list of solo residencies include Baylor University, Conservatory of Reykjavik (Iceland), University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of Texas, the South Central Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conference, the South East Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conferences, The United States Army Band Tuba/Euphonium Workshop, and the Xi Xiang Music Valley (China), among others. He is tubist with the UK Faculty Brass Quintet and was previously tubist with the Corpus Christi and the Kingsville brass quintets. He is a founding member of the Atlas Tuba Quartet. Some of his credits as a large ensemble performer include appearances with the Bloomington Camerata Orchestra, Columbus (Indiana) Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Jackson Symphony, and David Baker’s 21st-Century Bebop Band. Hightower is also an award-winning composer. In 2010, he was named the winner of the KMEA Intercollegiate Composition Contest. Commissioned works by Hightower have received premier performances at the 2012, 2014, and 2016 International Tuba Conferences, the 2017 and 2018 South Central Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference, the 2018 South East Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference, the John F. Kennedy Center, and the 2016 Texas Music Educators Conference. Hightower earned a B.M. in Music Education from Murray State University, an M.M. in Tuba Performance from Jacobs, and a D.M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. His primary instructors were Ray Conklin, Daniel Perantoni, and Charles Villarrubia, with additional instruction in the field of composition from Mike D’Ambrosio, John Fannin, and P.Q. Phan. Hightower is a B&S performing artist.

David Murray is professor of music in trombone at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. He previously was a member of the National Symphony Orchestra trombone section in Washington, D.C., hired by Christoph Eschenbach in 2014. He has also performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, the Baltimore, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, San Antonio, San Diego, and Saint Louis symphonies, the Louisiana Philharmonic, and the Washington National Opera Orchestra, among others. Internationally, Murray has performed as guest principal trombone with the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne, Germany, and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has also been a member of the Festival Orchestra at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music as well as the Schleswig-Holstein, Spoleto USA, and Chautauqua festivals. Murray served on the faculty of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University from 2017 to 2026. He has also given master classes, taught, and coached at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, New England Conservatory of Music, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, University of Miami, Stetson University, Michigan State University, George Mason University, Merit School of Music Chicago, Atlanta Symphony Talent Development Program, NSO Summer Music Institute, and the Curtis Institute Summerfest, among others. Murray began his musical studies on the piano at age five, adding trombone at age nine. He later continued training at the Peabody Preparatory on both instruments. He earned a Bachelor of Music (High Distinction and Performer Certificate) from the Eastman School of Music and a Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music.