About me

Raquel Samayoa leads a multifaceted career as a trumpet teacher and performer. Dr. Samayoa serves as Principal Trumpet of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (TX) and performs regularly with the Dallas Chamber Symphony. She is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick Artist and Clinician.

A passionate advocate for chamber music, Dr. Samayoa is a founding member, and formerly a core member, of two internationally acclaimed ensembles: the Lantana Trio and Seraph Brass.  As a member of Seraph Brass from 2016 to 2025, she performed worldwide, bringing dynamic brass repertoire to audiences in Peru, South Korea, Mexico, Spain, Finland, and across the United States at renowned institutions such as Yale University, the University of Michigan, the University of Miami, Oberlin Conservatory, and the prestigious Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2025, the ensemble released Showcase (Tower Grove Records), featuring works by leading contemporary composers Jeff Scott, Reena Esmail, Kevin Day, and Kevin McKee.

Lantana Trio is committed to expanding the brass trio repertoire through active commissioning. They have premiered new works by Jeff Scott, Yvette Herryman Rodriguez, Shanyse Strickland, and Dorothy Gates. Their album Crossing Barriers earned widespread acclaim, receiving third place in The American Prize for the Performance of American Music (Chamber Ensemble Division), a Special Judges’ Citation for Outstanding Album of New Music for Brass Trio (2024), and a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards (2023). The trio recently served as faculty and performers at the 2023 Festival Internacional De Mujeres Instrumentistas de Metal (FIMIM), Mexico’s first brass festival for women. In 2022, members of the trio co-hosted the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) at UNT.

A sought-after clinician and educator, Dr. Samayoa regularly presents masterclasses, recitals, and lectures at major universities and professional conferences. Her recent appearances include the College Music Society Southern Conference, Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), Midwest Clinic, Historic Brass Society Symposium, International Trumpet Guild (ITG) Conference, and the International Women’s Brass Conference. She has served as a guest artist and teacher at prestigious programs such as Domaine Forget (Canada), Interlochen Arts Camp (Michigan), and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, and has performed in esteemed venues across the globe, including the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Australia), Moscow Conservatory (Russia), and in China, England, Finland, Mexico, South Korea, Peru, and Spain.

Dr. Samayoa has contributed scholarly articles to The Instrumentalist, Brass Band World, The Brass Herald, and the ITG Journal. In 2020, she published Dueling Fundamentals for Trumpet: Advanced Fundamental Exercises for Two Trumpets with Mountain Peak Music, a highly regarded duet book described by ITG as a “must-have” for players seeking to enrich their technical development through collaborative practice.

As a solo artist, Dr. Samayoa has released three solo albums: Trumpet Songs (Summit Records, 2021); Cincinnati Virtuosity (2013), a cornet showcase featuring works by Herman Bellstedt and Frank Simon; and Spanish Songs (Mark Records, 2026), which highlights music by Hispanic and Brazilian composers, as well as works distinguished by a strong Spanish flavor.

Dr. Samayoa is Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas College of Music, where she also serves as Co-Director of the UNT Brass Band and Associate Chair of Instrumental Studies. In 2026, she received the UNT Creative Impact Award in recognition of her artistic and scholarly contributions. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Trumpet Guild.