About Stiletto
Stiletto Brass Quintet, formed in 2010, has gained exposure as a leading ensemble with performances that the audience greeted with rousing ovations with Doc Severinsen and the Heartland Festival Orchestra, at the International Women's Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, The National Trumpet Competition, the Great American Brass Band Festival and concerts in New York, New Hampshire, Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Oregon. Stiletto features five highly accomplished women from the U.S. with careers spanning the fields of orchestral, wind band, and brass chamber music: Amy Gilreath and Susan Rider, trumpets; Stacie Mickens, horn; Natalie Mannix, trombone; and Velvet Brown, tuba.
The group, as highlighted in the August 2012 international brass magazine “The Brass Herald”, reflects timely changes in the music scene. Its energetic and diversified repertoire includes avant-garde compositions written by leading composers of our time, as well as classical and popular works from the Baroque period to Gershwin. Stiletto’s concerts are fun, serious, heart-warming, emotionally intense, and always an audience’s favorite!
Stiletto Brass has released two recordings: Stiletto Brass Quintet with guest artist Doc Severinsen and Scarpe ! .
“The Stiletto Brass Quintet is a group of five superb musicians whose technique and ensemble work is simply unmatched. Joyousness, melodic introspection, tenderness, excitement---the full range of emotions is in every note they play. The fact that they are beautiful women in red stilettos…well that’s just icing on the cake. If they give the impression of owning the stage, it’s because they do. I’ve seen a lot of brass quintets in my day. But the Stiletto Brass Quintet is truly a breath of fresh air and a wonderful evening’s entertainment.”
- Doc Severinsen
"Stiletto is one of the most exciting groups to emerge recently in the brass world. Their artistry, covering so many styles, is versatile and musically very deep. Individually, each of these musicians is an artist in their own right. Together, they are a force to be reckoned with. Marvelous! Don't miss them!
- Jazz Great Marvin Stamm
"Stiletto Brass Quintet, have really hit the scene running and caused quite a sensation at the ITG Conference in Columbus, Georgia and the Great American Brass Band Festival in Danville, Kentucky."
"I was fortunate enough to hear Stiletto Brass at the 2012 ITG Conference in Columbus, Georgia. How fortunate I was. I experienced a sensational concert given by the five brilliant brass musicians who make up Stiletto Brass. Virtuoso music making of the highest order.
I can't wait to hear Stiletto Brass again. The sooner the better!"
- Philip Biggs, Editor, “The Brass Herald” journal
"The members of Stiletto Brass Quintet perform with the rarest of skills, always combining flawless ensemble, intonation, and balance. The trumpets blend as one, and the overall sound of all five is warm and flexible. Each style they traveled through, and there were many, was authentic and convincing. It was a polished evening of music making, that is a beacon for any chamber ensemble."