Tanya Darby to Berklee

BOSTON, MA (November 5, 2018)—Educator, bandleader, musician, and clinician Tanya Darby will join the brass department at Berklee College of Music as its chair next semester. Darby currently works as an assistant professor of lead trumpet at University of North Texas, and has previously held adjunct faculty positions at Temple University and The New School University of New York City.

Originally from Seaside, California, Darby is a current and veteran member of a variety of groups, including the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, The Roy Hargrove Big Band, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Michel Camilo Big Band, the Rufus Reid Large Ensemble, and the Manhattan Jazz Orchestra. She has performed and toured with a diverse array of artists and ensembles, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Ron Carter Great Big Band, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Mingus Band, Clark Terry, Jon Faddis, Gladys Knight, Slide Hampton, the Cab Calloway Orchestra, Dianne Reeves, and numerous others. Darby also appeared on the television program “BET on Jazz” as part of the T.S. Monk Sextet, and performed with Aretha Franklin as part of the Arista Records 25 Year Anniversary Special on NBC.

Darby’s accomplishments as a lead trumpet player have led to performance opportunities and collaborations with Paquito D’Rivera and the United Nations Orchestra, the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, the Rufus Reid Large Ensemble, Jimmy Heath’s Queens Jazz Orchestra, and the Frank Foster Loud Minority Big Band, among others.

“Tanya Darby’s impressive background in performance and education will contribute tremendously to the goals and initiatives of the brass department at Berklee,” said Ron Savage, Dean of the Professional Performance Division at the college.

As an educator, Darby regularly teaches master classes, and has been a clinician and adjudicator at numerous festivals, both domestic and abroad. She received her master's degree in jazz performance from Rutgers University in 2012, and a bachelor's degree in jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music in 1998.

(Source: Tori Donahue, Berklee College of Music)