The Tar Heel Brass Quintet

We are all brass musicians from and around the Triangle of North Carolina. Many of us have earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance and have been performing our whole life.

We perform for weddings, events, church services, retirement homes and more! We are a great group who love to perform and share music with others.

Please contact us for inquiries through the “Contact” page or at lholtshousertrumpet@gmail.com

  • Lauren is one of our two trumpet players. She most recently has performed for Broadway International’s the “Sound of Music” as well as other contracted musicals in the Northeast and Triangle area. She currently teaches trumpet lessons and performs in the Triangle while taking professional orchestral auditions across the country. She has performed with groups such as the Hudson Valley Pops Orchestra, The Click Symphony, and the Tar Heel brass quintet.

  • Matt Wakeford was born and raised in the triangle area of North Carolina, and has enjoyed making music for as long as he can remember.  He played trumpet in the band at Athens Drive HS, as well as Triangle Youth Philharmonic, Triangle Youth Brass Band, and Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble. Matt has enjoyed learning to play a wide variety of genres, especially jazz music, which blends his enjoyment of rich harmonies with the creativity of improvisation. This led him to attend UNC Chapel Hill to study Jazz Trumpet Performance with Professor Jim Ketch. In addition to trumpet, Matt also enjoys playing piano, composing and arranging, and singing in choirs. Since graduating from UNC in 2020, Matt has continued to write, play gigs, and perform in many groups around the triangle, including the Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, the Triangle Brass Band, Click Symphony, the Phil Allen Octet and the Tar Heel Brass Quintet.

  • Samer Issa is a native of Apex, NC and is a recent graduate of NC State University with a B.S. in Human Biology and minor in Music Performance.

    He is currently working for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with their School of Medicine as a Research Technician. While attending NC State, he was a performer in the Wind Ensemble, Brickyard Brass Quintet, Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra and Pit Orchestra. Outside of his time at NC State, Samer marched baritone for 3 years with Carolina Crown, aging out as horn sergeant.

    He currently plays trombone for the Tar Heel Brass Quintet and the Triangle Brass Band. As a teacher, Samer maintains a small private lesson studio and is a marching and music instructor with Green Level High School, Green Hope High School and is on the brass staff with Carolina Crown.

    If he isn’t working in a lab or practicing his instrument, he can be found working out way too early in the morning, watching too much TV, playing video games, or spending time with his friends and family.

  • Cole Groff is the tuba player for the Tar Heel Brass Quintet. A highly accomplished musician, he won 1st place in the Youth Low Brass Technical Division of the NABBA Solo Competition. In high school, Cole earned spots in all-district and all-state bands, the Eastern Region Orchestra, and attended NC Governor’s School in 2022 for Instrumental Music. He also performed with the Triangle Youth Philharmonic and Watson Brass Band.

    Now a student at the University of North Carolina, he is double-majoring in Music and Neuroscience, combining technical skill with artistic passion in his performances.

  • Jake is our resident horn player and has been playing for nearly 20 years. As a student he performed in the NC All District and All State bands, and continued onto Appalachian State University where he performed in the marching band, symphonic band, orchestra, and horn choir. Currently, he performs with the Triangle Brass Band, St. Francis Brass Band, Click Symphony, and the Tar Heel brass quintet.