Emily Asher, MM
About
Emily Asher is a trombonist and singer of "buoyant charm” (Nate Chinen, The New York Times) in strong demand as a bandleader, sidewoman, and educator nationwide. As a leader, Asher has produced five CDs and led US and Israel tours with her band Emily Asher’s Garden Party and earned a prestigious Banff Centre Residency with her Endangered Species Trio. She recorded and performed with Wycliffe Gordon on his “Hello Pops!” tribute to Louis Armstrong, and was a member of Nicholas Payton’s Television Studio Orchestra.
“Ms. Asher plays with both grit and grace” (Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal) and has shared the stage with a wide variety of artists including Tony Bennett, Carol Burnett, Mø, Talib Kweli, Chaka Khan, Terri Lyne Carrington, and many others.
Emily Asher’s Garden Party’s most recent and eclectic album, If I Were a Window, was recorded and released in 2020 with eight original compositions.
Originally from Seattle, Emily earned three Bachelors degrees from the University of Washington. Upon graduating in 2004 she was hired as the Director of Bands at Ballou Junior High School in Puyallup, Washington where she taught for three years. In May of 2009 she completed her Masters in music performance from CUNY Queens College.
After more than 12 years of living in New York, Emily returned to her first love of teaching and is currently an Elementary Music Specialist in the Bellingham Public Schools and is on the Jazz Faculty at Western Washington University.