Colorado-based trumpeter Leslie Scarpino is equally at home in the concert hall and the teaching studio. She is currently principal trumpet of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central City Opera Orchestra, and the orchestra of Opera Colorado.
Prior to moving to Colorado, Leslie was principal trumpet of the Florida Grand Opera orchestra and principal trumpet of the Palm Beach Symphony. She has performed around the world with various festival orchestras, including Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, the AIMS festival Orchestra in Graz, Austria, and the American Russian Young Artist Orchestra, which toured the United States and Russia. She has done substitute work in orchestras such as the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Kansas City Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, and many others.
In addition to her orchestral work, Leslie is an experienced soloist and chamber musician. She was featured as a soloist with the Ukrainian State Symphony Orchestra on their 2006 tour of Ukraine and the Netherlands. She has performed recitals in the United States and Europe, including performances on Chicago’s Rush Hour Concerts series. As a chamber musician, she has participated in festivals at the Rafael Mendez Summer Brass Institute, the German Brass Academy, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. During her time in Miami, she was a member of the brass quintet for Miami Music Project, an organization committed to bringing music to elementary and middle school students in underserved communities.
Leslie has been teaching trumpet for more than twenty years. She has held faculty positions at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois and at Wilbur Wright College in Chicago. Leslie has taught masterclasses at Loyola University in Chicago, the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, the Lysenko Music Academy in Kiev, and at various high schools throughout the United States. Her students in Colorado have been members of numerous honor ensembles such as the All-State jazz band, the Colorado All-State concert band, the Colorado All-State orchestra, and honor bands at CU and Western State, among others.
Leslie holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in trumpet performance from Northwestern University, where she studied with renowned teachers Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from University of Miami where she studied with Craig Morris.