Joseph Foley

Joseph Damian Foley is a native of Concord, New Hampshire.  He attended Boston University as a Trustee Scholar (full four year academic scholarship), where he studied trumpet with Roger Voisin, Rolf Smedvig, and Peter Chapman, and composition with Samuel Headrick. He received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from that institution, and was twice given the award for "Outstanding Brass Player." He has performed in more than a dozen countries on four continents.

A highly sought after chamber musician, he is a former founding member of the Atlantic Brass Quintet, which garnered grand prizes at six international chamber music competitions during his tenure. In addition he has performed with the Boston Symphony Brass Quintet, the Empire Brass, Burning River Brass, ALEA III, American Century Music, Boston Musica Viva, and at the Santa Fe, Buzzard’s Bay, and Newport Chamber Music Festivals. 

As an orchestral musician, he has performed and toured with such prestigious ensembles as the Boston Symphony, the Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Royal Ballet of London, and the New York Philharmonic, as well as the Hartford Symphony, the New Hampshire Symphony, the Springfield Symphony, and the All-American College Orchestra at EPCOT Center.  Mr. Foley is a member of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra and has been Principal Trumpet of the Rhode Island Philharmonic since 1990.  More recently he has been serving as Principal Trumpet of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO) in Houston, TX. 

As a soloist he has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Boston Classical Orchestra, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, the Pro Arte Chamber orchestra, and at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. His first solo CD is due out this fall. 

Mr. Foley is also a gifted arranger, with over fifty brass transcriptions to his credit. He has also arranged and composed for such diverse ensembles as full symphony orchestra and jazz ensemble.

As an educator, he has taught at many prestigious institutions, including Boston University, The Boston Conservatory, Boston College, MIT, Harvard University, and the UMass-Lowell. A clinician for the Vincent Bach Corporation, he has given clinics and master classes around the world, and currently serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet at Rhode Island College.