Brass

Drew Mazurek, trumpet

Photo by Marilyn Catasus Drew Mazurek co-founded Brass in the Spring of 1999, while still an undergraduate at Yale University. He performed with the group for seven seasons before leaving in 2006 to pursue graduate work in Electrical Engineering at Stanford. The trumpet called him back in 2008, and he's been a full-time member ever since. His personality and musicality are an integral part of the sound of Brass.

A native of North Haven, Drew has studied with Richard Green and Ken Tedeschi. He has performed extensively with groups at Yale and Stanford — including the Yale Concert Band, the Yale Precision Marching Band, and the Stanford Wind Ensemble — as well as the Connecticut Choral Society, the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra New England, the Guilford Town Band, and in dozens of musical theater productions. He has performed in nine countries spanning four continents and holds degrees from Yale (BS) and Stanford (MS).

When he's not playing trumpet, Drew can usually be found flying airplanes over the Connecticut coastline or building things at Veoci, his New Haven-based company. A native of North Haven, he now calls New Haven home.

Aaron Heine, trumpet

Bio coming soon.

Emily Boyer, horn

Photo by Mateusz Zechowski Emily Boyer, a member of Brass since 2019, strives for opportunities to cultivate relationships through music. She co-founded the horn and harp duo Apple Orange Pair in 2010 to grow the contemporary repertoire and connect audiences with this unexpected pairing.

As an orchestral musician, Emily has performed with New Haven, Greater Bridgeport, Eastern Connecticut, and Waterbury Symphony Orchestras. Emily is an instructor at Naugatuck Valley and Middlesex Community Colleges and Educational Center for the Arts (New Haven, CT), maintains private brass studios at The Foote School and Hopkins School (New Haven), and is an Arts Provider with Hartford Performs. Emily currently serves as Co-Director of Music at Christ Presbyterian Church (PCA) in New Haven. She is a graduate of Peabody Conservatory (BM) and Yale School of Music (MM).

Jennifer Griggs, trombone

Photo by Marilyn Catasus Jennifer Griggs is an active freelance trombonist living in New York City. She performs in different musical settings with a variety of ensembles. Besides Brass, she is a member of Tromboteam! (whose debut album, featuring nine newly commissioned works, is scheduled for release in January 2014), Le Train Bleu, and the Patriot Brass Ensemble. Her work with the new music ensemble “Le Train Bleu” has led to performances at venues in New York such as Symphony Space, Le Poisson Rouge, Galapagos Art Space, Lar Lubovitch Dance Co, and DROM.

In addition, Jennifer has performed with the Waterbury Symphony, Wallingford Symphony, Orchestra New England, and Orchestra Modern. Before coming to the northeast, she was employed in the pit orchestra at the Cumberland County Playhouse in Tennessee. As an educator, Jennifer has served on the faculty at Naugatuck Valley Community College, Morse Summer Music Academy, and remains active in the Yale Music in Schools education outreach program. She has appeared as a guest artist and clinician at Southern Mississippi State University, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of Ohio, University of Nebraska at Kearny, and many public schools. In 2010, as a member of the Yale Trombone Quartet, she traveled to Bogota, Colombia, where she was featured artist and clinician at the “100 Anos, 100 Trombones” festival.

Jennifer holds a degree in music education from Tennessee Technological University (BA) and a degree in trombone performance from the Yale School of Music (MM). Her teachers include Scott Hartman, Susan K. Smith, Joshua Hauser, and Kevin Chiarizzio.

Outside of her musical life, Jennifer is an avid horsewoman and is currently an instructor at Essex Equestrian Center in New Jersey, where she teaches riding, showing, and horsemanship to students of all ages.

Matthew DeNegre, tuba

Matthew DeNegre is a music educator and performer in the Greater New Haven area and has been teaching band and general music in New Haven Public Schools since 2021.

Matthew has enjoyed a freelance performance career in Connecticut and Massachusetts, including performances with the Harvard Choruses, Chorus pro Musica & Metropolitan Chorale, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, and various functions with groups or solo engagements from Yale University. Matthew also enjoys performing in community ensembles, including the Guilford Town Band, Hamden Symphony Orchestra, and Yale Medical Symphony Orchestra.

Matthew holds degrees from the University of Connecticut (BA in Music), University of Massachusetts Amherst (MM in Performance), and University of Bridgeport (MS in Music Education).

Junius Johnson, manager, horn emeritus

Photo by Marilyn Catasus Junius Johnson co-founded Brass in 1999. A native of Louisville, Kentucky and an avid performer, he is experienced in horn performance across nearly every major genre. He brings his extensive training in the humanities to the construction of Brass' innovative programming.

At Yale, Junius has performed with every major ensemble on campus, and has been a featured soloist twice each with the Yale Bach Society and the Saybrook College Orchestra. He appears on several CDs of local folk/rock band Mighty Purple (HMG Records), and on the soundtrack to the Hollywood feature film The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, director). Junius is the former Executive Director of Orchestra New England, an emeritus member of the Archipelago Project and an honorary member of the Bermuda Regiment Band and the US Army Field Band. He has performed around the world on numerous international tours, and holds degrees from Oral Roberts University (BA) and Yale University (PhD).

He is currently the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative classes for both children and adults that aim to marry the sense of wonder with intellectual rigor. He continues to be involved with Brass through concert planning, and returns to New Haven to perform as often as he can.