Yael Cohen

Biography

Hello! I am a trumpet player with extensive performing experience in diverse musical settings, and deeply care about music outreach and pursuing equity in the arts. I recently graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Psychology and Information Sciences, but I prioritized music outside of the classroom through ensembles as well as lessons with Raymond Mase at the Juilliard School.

I spent this past year playing trumpet 2 in the pit orchestra for the Broadway National Tour of the musical Tootsie, and loved being a part of a production that brings laughter and levity to audiences each night. Prior to that, I played in pits for university productions of Legally Blonde, The Music Man, Anything Goes, and Annie. Furthermore, I was both the composer-lyricist and music director for Columbia’s largest annual production, the Varsity Show, which is a student-written and student-directed satirical musical about life at Columbia.

In terms of classical music, I was the principal trumpet player of the New York Youth Symphony from 2017-2021, with which I was a soloist at Carnegie Hall, played on CNN with Billy Ray Cyrus, toured internationally, and was featured on a Grammy-hopeful studio album. Additionally, I was the principal trumpet player of the Columbia University orchestra from 2017-2021. I also served as a Soloist and Director of Global Operations for the Back to Bach Project from 2016-2021, which is a musical outreach program aiming to kindle a passion for classical music in children worldwide.

Currently, I am the Get To Work intern at Maestra where I engage in the DEIA space. Moreover, I am the creator/host of a podcast entitled “The Brass Ceiling," in which I interview primarily female and non-binary peers about their musical journeys, and prompt a rigorous dialogue with the intention of understanding how to achieve greater diversity in, and accessibility to, the arts. I hopes to lift others with me as I pursue a career in a field that historically lacks diversity.