Theresa May

Theresa J. May is a native of Shaker Heights, Ohio. She holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Dayton. Theresa is adjunct faculty at Cuyahoga Community College where she teaches Applied Trumpet and World Music.

Theresa enjoys community engagement as a teaching artist with the Roots of American Music organization and is a co-founder of the Chromatic Brass Collective, an organization for brass musicians that celebrates, performs, mentors, and educates to increase the visibility of racially and ethnically underrepresented women and gender non-conforming people throughout the brass world. Theresa is also a member of Black Classical Music Educators (BCME), and the International Society for Black Musicians (ISBM), an organization dedicated to the advocacy of Black musicians and their work in the scholarship of music.

As an active performer and educator, Theresa maintains several studios in and around the city of Cleveland, Ohio and performs regularly with Gabriel’s Horns, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, and Mourning [A] BLKstar. Theresa also performs in the Colour of Music Festival, a Classical music festival featuring musicians of color, has performed as a guest solo artist at the 2022 International Women’s Brass Conference, and has also been featured in the Rising Stars podcast hosted by Carol Jantsch (Principal Tuba with the Philadelphia Orchestra).