Taylor Barnett

Taylor Barnett is a trumpeter, composer, and educator based in Richmond, Virginia. He is an Assistant Professor of Music at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a member of No BS! Brass, as well as the leader of his own jazz groups. Barnett earned a B.M. in Jazz studies and and M.M. in Trumpet performance at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a D.M.A. in Performance, Pedagogy, and Literature at James Madison University.

Dr. Barnett has performed as a trumpet soloist at the Monterey Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Toronto Jazz Festival, and on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert as well as with artists such as Bon Iver, Woody Herman Orchestra, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, and Frankie Avalon.

As a composer/arranger, Barnett’s work is published by UNC Jazz Press and his large-ensemble arrangements have been performed at international music festivals in Australia, Portugal, China, and all across the United States.

Barnett is a frequent adjudicator/clinician and guest director for middle-school and high-school jazz band festivals and assessments across Virginia.

Dr. Barnett is also an integral part of Code Beats, a National Science Foundation-funded interdisciplinary research project at VCU, led by Dr. David C. Shepherd, VCU Computer Science. Code Beats works to broaden youth participation in computing by teaching students to create authentic-sounding hip-hop beats using fundamental computer programming concepts.

At VCU Dr Barnett serves as Director of Jazz Studies and teaches Jazz Arranging, Jazz History, Jazz Orchestra I, Jazz Pedagogy, and CMSC 144: Code Beats With Python.