Cleveland trumpeter Theresa May has been a vital force in ensembles across the city.
From the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra to the Broadway series at Playhouse Square to the avant-garde collective Mourning [A] BLKstar, May has spent much of her career playing alongside others.
But in recent years, she started carving out a new path, one that is entirely her own.
"I am allowing myself to do whatever I want, which is really freeing, especially coming from a place of classical conservatory training, where I didn't always feel like I had as much freedom as I wanted," May said.
A significant moment in May's journey toward solo artistry came last year when she faced a serious health scare.
She was diagnosed with fibroids, a condition that impacted her breathing and made playing the trumpet difficult.
"Now that I'm able to take a full breath without my body being super tense and stressed out and no pain, it feels like a dream," she said. "I didn't realize how much it was affecting me until it was gone."
With a newfound sense of freedom, May threw herself into creating music that reflects her experiences, emotions and aspirations, pairing effect pedals with her trumpet and flugelhorn.
Her original composition "Universal Return" captures this spirit.
"I wrote this piece about returning to a part of our younger selves that often gets lost when we reach adulthood,” she said.
May teaches trumpet lessons, and her youngest student, who is 5 years old, inspired the mood of the song.
“He asks so many questions in one 30-minute lesson,” May said. “If we spent more time laughing and playing, I think we would all feel much better."
Teaching has become a crucial part of May’s journey, both as an artist and as a mentor.
She’s an instructor at both Cuyahoga Community College and Academy Music in Cleveland Heights, where she works to inspire the next generation of musicians.
"Starting when I was in school and academia, being one of the only Black people, and one of the only Black women in the brass department, I felt like I had to prove that I belonged,” she said. “They can look like me and be me and play the trumpet.”
Learning new ways to create sound
May began experimenting with effects pedals from Akron guitar pedal company EarthQuaker Devices, blending her trumpet and flugelhorn with electronic beats and letting the pedals alter the traditional sounds.
"Many people in the pandemic were learning how to make bread. I was teaching myself how to make beats," May said.
This self-taught approach led her to develop a deeply personal and experimental sound.
The result is a soundscape uniquely hers, a fusion of jazz, electronic and ambient textures that allows her to express emotions and ideas in a way she never has before.
"All the bands that I've been in have led me and helped me to create my solo music, but this feels just really special, really close to my heart, and allows me to experience and play everything that I'm feeling," May said.
One of those feelings is a sense of peace, something she explores in "Go to the Garden," a composition by Eris DeJarnett that May has embraced as a key part of her performances.
“Go to the Garden” was originally composed as a piece that’s ideal for developing performers or those recovering from an injury, according to DeJarnett’s website.
It is a slow, calm composition with long-held notes and supplemental expressionist text.
"The piece itself is about having a place of solace and solitude that you can go to that will always be a safe space,” May said. “I always like to start in a place of calmness. So, for me, that's what that piece does."
Exploring themes of race, identity and resiliency
May’s work also explores Afrofuturism, a theme that deeply influences her creative process.
In 2020, she collaborated on a project for SPACES Gallery called "Afrofuturism: Black Lives Will Exist in the Future."
"That project was about Black bodies being able to exist in any and all spaces. For me, it was personal,” she said.
May said she had to fight to feel like she belonged in the spaces she was in — a feeling she said many others can relate to.
Her latest piece, "Gratitude," encapsulates her journey as a solo artist and the resilience she has built over the years.
“This was one of the first beats I made,” May said. “I was able to perform at the International Women's Brass Conference.”
May said that conference was the first time she met the members of the Chromatic Brass Collective — the organization she founded to increase the visibility of racially and ethnically underrepresented women and gender non-conforming people throughout the brass world — in person.
Next month, May is curating a performance that spotlights underrepresented composers, a project she has been passionate about for years.
She and her longtime friend and collaborator Megan Denman, a Cleveland-based pianist, are hosting the concert at Tri-C.
"We’re still finalizing the repertoire, but one thing we know for sure is that it will feature women composers, non-binary composers and Black composers — music that you don’t often hear for trumpet and piano," May said.
