Rachel Spencer
Musician - Educator

A versatile and engaging performer, trumpeter Rachel Spencer’s career has been rich and fulfilling. From big bands to orchestras, brass bands to brass quintets, Rachel is known for her stylistic prowess in a wide range of genres, as well as her clear and expressive tone. Rachel has  shared the stage with many incredible musicians such as Graham Reynolds, Andre Hayward, Diego Rivera, and Peggy Stern among others. Her music has afforded her travel opportunities nationally and internationally; She has performed at TMEA, OMEA, the Tanglewood Music Center, and has traveled to Hong Kong as a featured performer in the Chinese New Year Parade. Recently, she held the lead trumpet chair for the second North American Tour of The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy.

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In her current home base of  Austin,TX, Rachel has regularly performed as a leader and a side musician in the cities top music venues including but not limited to: The Elephant Room, Monks Jazz Club, Parker Jazz Club, Antones, The 04 Center, Emo's The Continental Club, The Electric Church, Mohawk, Half Step, The Long Center, and has performed as a featured performer with Graham Reynolds in a SXSW Showcase. In 2025, she was awarded the prestigious Presser Graduate Music Award grant to fund her debut album "The Next Right Thing" to be released in late 2026.

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In her youth: As a graduate student at the University of Texas, she was a member of the UT Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, New Music Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra and was a semifinalist in the National Trumpet Competition graduate solo division. As a member of DCI, Rachel was a member of the Bluecoats for 5 years as a lead trumpet player, soloist, and horn sergeant, winning bronze, silver, and gold with the corps.

 

Rachel can be heard performing as a leader and a side musician in a wide variety of settings and would love to see you at her next show! 

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Outside of performing, Rachel is a dedicated music educator with over a decade of experience, consistently mentoring students to success in auditions and competitions, while also holding a variety of leadership roles and director positions with various organizations such as UT Austin, DCI, Soundsport, and New School of Music Austin. Rachel has taught three years of middle school band in central Texas at a thriving CCC program and has held a private studio since 2011, which is now the primary vehicle for her teaching. Outside of lessons, Rachel has served on faculty at Longhorn Music Camp and Texas Jazz and Blues Camp and is a frequent judge for trumpet and jazz auditions for TMEA and NTC. During her studies she has held Teaching Assistant appointments throughout the entirety her Masters and Doctoral studies, directing large and small ensembles that have included premiers of her own arrangements and performances with guest artists such as Branford Marsalis and Micheal Dease, while also leading courses within the jazz and music department. Currently, Rachel has a thriving private studio and clinician schedule and is frequently traveling to provide jazz and trumpet masterclasses, including her signature improvisation course "From Zero to Hero: Simple Steps To Sensible Improvisation". In 2025, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the Austin Jazz Society and is honored to serve her jazz community in this way.

 

 

 

 

Rachel holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin in Music and Human Learning, a Bachelor of Music from Capital University in Jazz Studies and is currently completing her Doctoral studies at the University of Texas in Jazz Performance where she is a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Her mentors and teachers include: Lou Fischer, Rob Parton, Michael Sailors, Marie Spezalie, Wiff Rudd, John Mills, and Diego Rivera. Rachel takes inspiration and has developed artistically from the study of her musical heroes such as  Kenny Garrett, Roy Hargrove, Bobby Shew, Art Farmer and Blue Mitchell, who is the subject of her dissertation. 

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In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading, playing with her cats, exercise, and traveling. She is a coffee aficionado and loves to seek inspiration from visual art.

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Rachel plays a Yamaha Custom Z trumpet, an Adams F1 flugelhorn, and a custom Hammond Design mouthpiece. Rachel is proud to serve as a Hammond Design endorsing artist.