Dr. Bethany Wiese is Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Vanderbilt University and Principal Tuba of the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, as well as serving as low brass faculty at the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival.
Dr. Wiese has enjoyed a diverse career performing in orchestras and other large ensembles. She spent two years as a fellow of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. She is also a past fellow of summer programs including the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival and School, National Repertory Orchestra, and National Orchestral Institute, and spent one summer touring the United States with the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with orchestras throughout the country and abroad, including the Charlotte (NC) Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Symphony, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), Macao Orchestra, and Korean Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Dr. Wiese has previously served as Principal E-flat Tuba in the North Carolina Brass Band (the only professional brass band in North Carolina) and has enjoyed performing with Monarch Brass, an all-female brass ensemble, at the International Women’s Brass Conference and International Trumpet Guild.
Dr. Wiese has been a prizewinner in several solo competitions, including the Falcone Festival, where she was a medalist in the 2007 Tuba Artist division.
A native of Davenport, Iowa, Dr. Wiese has been invited to present masterclasses at numerous universities and conferences throughout the country and is a past recipient of the Hayes School of Music Outstanding Teaching Award at Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), where she recently served as Associate Professor of Tuba and Euphonium. She received her Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University as a student of Rex Martin; additionally, she completed a Master of Music degree from Yale University (studying with Mike Roylance) and Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University (studying with Marty Erickson).
She says this about her teaching philosophy: “My teaching philosophy is simple: to help students become thoughtful musicians. Music is about communication and ultimately, we are storytellers.... [M]y goal is to help students refine the skills necessary to become compelling, creative, and clear storytellers.”
