Ashley Killam is a multi-faceted trumpet player, educator, drill designer, and advocate for underrepresented musicians. Ashley has performed in a wide range of ensembles, from chamber music to large bands and orchestras, performing professionally with the North Carolina Brass Band, Sandia Brass Quintet, and the New Mexico Philharmonic. Ashley has created her own private studio and has begun her own research on the creation of new music. As an educator, Ashley teaches trumpet lessons, sectionals, and full brass rehearsals, and has worked with students of all ages and skill levels. She has been managing a private trumpet studio for nearly a decade, and many of her students have been recognized for their excellence. Several of Ashley’s students have been selected for a variety of honor and All-State classical and jazz bands in both New Mexico and North Carolina. An advocate for underrepresented composers and brass players, Ashley is passionate about expanding awareness for diversity in music by women and composers of color. She currently works for the Institute for Composer Diversity, as Head of Social Media and Special Projects, leading the development of individual instrument databases, as well as the Managing Editor for the Institute for Composer Diversity Magazine. She has guest lectured and presented on representation and diversity in music to 17 university classes in the spring of 2020. Ashley also has significant marching band experience, as a drill writer, visual instructor, and director. Most recently, she was the Visual Instructor at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina, and has been hired and has been contracted as an independent drill writer by numerous high schools across the country. She has written the Appalachian State University Marching Band and for high school bands in Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, and Virginia, writing for ensembles with 15 to 150 students. Ashley is originally from Grand Ledge, Michigan and is now living in Radford, Virginia. She holds a Master of Music in Trumpet Performance and a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her former instructors include Dr. John Marchiando, Charles Daval, Ron Romm, and Mark Thompson.