About La Bella
In the fall of 2001, four women came together to play quartet music as a project for a trumpet player's Women's Study course at the University of Northern Colorado.
They enjoyed their time together, finding that an all female group had a unique ambience, and elected to continue the group. The instrumentation of the quartet however, lacked abundant repertoire. Seizing the opportunity, they added a fifth member to the group and La Bella Brass Quintet was born.
The group has played for a variety of venues since then, including the "political roast" for Former UNC President Hank Brown, educational programs for Weld County Public Library and elementary schools throughout the Denver Metro Area, private parties, recitals, and weddings.
They have received several local honors/awards and were selected as winners of the Angie Southard Chamber Music Competition in 2001.
Most recently, the quintet was advanced to the finals of a prestigious national competition, the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and placed in the top 6 wind chamber groups in the country.
Members of the group have performed with many of the best music ensembles in the state and around the country. Some of these include the Houston Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Denver Brass, the Central City Opera, the National Repertoire Orchestra, the Greeley Philharmonic and the Colorado Wind Ensemble.
The members of La Bella have all earned their respective music degrees and continue to find rich musical satisfaction and deep friendship playing together.
The Ladies of La Bella
Cami Kidwell-Dodge, Trumpet
Cami Kidwell-Dodge, originally from Texas, has lived in Colorado since 1992. She has been performing with The Denver Brass since 1995 and has been the principal trumpet with The Longmont Symphony since 1999. Cami freelances all along the Front Range, performing with the Boulder Philharmonic, Cheyenne Symphony, Fort Collins Symphony and the Colorado Symphony. Cami is a frequent masterclass clinician working with trumpet players and brass ensembles throughout the front range. After completing her bachelor's degree in trumpet performance from Baylor University, Cami moved to Colorado for graduate study in music therapy at Colorado State University, where she earned a master of music degree.
Kerry Webb, Trumpet
A native of Denver, Colorado, Kerry Webb has received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. She has performed with the Rocky Mountain Brassworks, Colorado Wind Ensemble, Jefferson Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, Boulder Dinner Theatre, Capitol Brass Quintet, Musica Sacra Chamber Orchestra, and toured France in the summer of 2005 with the Park Hill Brass Quintet. Recent solo performances include; the Artunian Trumpet Concerto with the Metro State Symphony, the Haydn Trumpet Concerto and Concertpiece with the Metro State Wind Ensemble, and the Hummel Trumpet Concerto with the Colorado Honor Band Association, for which she was a member from 1990-2000. Kerry has instructed instrumentalists at Chaparral High School and the Colorado Honor Band Association and has also taught privately for the past eight years. Her trumpet teachers include; Ron Miles, Dan Leavitt, Walter Barr, Jerry Endsley, Terry Sawchuk, and Dan Kuehn. Kerry will be pursuing a Master's Degree from the University of Denver in the fall of 2007.
Jenny Harvey, Horn
Jenny Harvey received her bachelor of music in horn performance degree at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley and her master of music degree from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Jenny plays in the Denver Brass and maintains an active horn studio in the Denver area. Jenny is also active in the community teaching sectionals for the Colorado Honor Band and presenting masterclasses for the Symphony Winds and the Littleton Band Center. Jenny has played with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Festival Hill at Round Top, the National Repertory Orchestra, Peter Britt Festival in Oregon, Strings in the Mountains and the Central City Opera.
Beth Wolfe, Trombone
Beth Wolfe grew up in the beautiful mountains of Colorado where she began to appreciate music at an early age. She played the clarinet for many years, and it wasn't until her college years that she "saw the light" of brass. She applied herself to the trombone and received a Bachelor of Trombone Performance from the University of Northern Colorado in 2002. Since that time, Mrs. Wolfe has taught and freelanced in Denver and the surrounding area with groups such as the Denver Brass, Colorado Honor Band Association, and the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra. When she isn't playing somewhere, Mrs. Wolfe can be found following another passion working nights as an emergency veterinary technician at Northside Emergency Pet Clinic in Westminster.
Lindsey Gardner, Bass Trombone
Lindsey Gardner has performed throughout Colorado with ensembles such as the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, the Cheyenne Symphony, the Ft. Collins Symphony, the Colorado Wind Ensemble, the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra, Colorado Brass Company, 9th and Lincoln Jazz Ensemble, and Swing Inc. Lindsey holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Bachelor of Music Performance degree in bass trombone performance from the University of Northern Colorado. Her teachers include Jack Robinson, Nat Wickham, and Norm Klumpp. Lindsey teaches a piano studio out of her home in Westminster.
