Dr. Allyson Keyser is a tenured Professor of Music at SUNY Schenectady County Community College where she instructs the trumpet studio, coaches brass ensembles, teaches core music classes including Conducting, Aural Skills, Music History, and Brass Techniques, directs the Wind Ensemble, and is the Brass Department Chair. Dr. Keyser received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Virginia Commonwealth University and her M.M. and D.M.A. in trumpet performance with a cognate in instrumental conducting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the trumpet teaching assistant.
In 2017, Dr. Keyser won the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 2025, she won a Student Government Award for Excellence in Mentorship, and in 2026 she won the SGA award for Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy after being nominated by current students. Prior to her appointment at SUNY Schenectady, Dr. Keyser taught trumpet, theory, aural skills, and coached brass ensembles at Virginia Commonwealth University as a sabbatical replacement for her former professor, Rex Richardson. Dr. Keyser currently performs as principal trumpet and assistant conductor of the Capital Region Wind Ensemble. She leads the SUNY Schenectady Concert Brass Quintet, plays principal trumpet with Albany Pro Musica, is a member of the Schenectady-Saratoga Symphony, and often performs with the Albany Symphony, Glens Falls Symphony, Octavo Singers, Mohawk-Hudson Chorale, Berkshire Chorale, and Saratoga Voices among many other fine ensembles in the area. She recently performed with the Lake George Music Festival Orchestra and performed and recorded StarSong by Bradley Ellingboe with Albany Pro Musica and the American Modern Ensemble on Albany Records.
Dr. Keyser is the founder and director of the annual Capital Region Summer Trumpet Institute, an intensive summer institute for middle and high school students. She often presents trumpet, brass, and conducting workshops at K-12 schools, universities, and music conferences across NY state. Additionally, she is a frequent guest conductor for all-county festivals. Her other presentation topics include audition preparation, performance anxiety, diverse programming and representation, mindful score marking, and alternative careers in music. She performs as an active freelance musician and maintains a trumpet studio of all ages and levels in the Capital Region of New York, as well as occasional virtual lessons. Her specialty is working with students who have technical or physical challenges on their instruments, helping them learn to play with ease, and removing roadblocks so that they can fully enjoy the process of making beautiful music with confidence.
Teaching Philosophy
Throughout my 20+ years as an educator, I have found that the most common frustration among my students is the confusion that surrounds commonly misused catchphrases that claim to fix brass techniques. For many, this makes it feel impossible to figure out what actually works. This can lead to a variety of unintended side effects such as a self-doubt, compensating with the wrong muscles, lack of proper support, overthinking, overblowing, chasing after the perfect equipment, inconsistency, and in more extreme cases focal dystonia.
Having worked with over 1,000 students in private lessons and masterclasses, clinics, brass techniques courses for future music educators, and having overcome dozens of technical challenges myself, I have developed multiple methods to fix any given issue that may get in one’s way. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to playing any instrument, which is why I always meet my students where they are, and develop a plan to help them find a path to success. When we develop a consistent foundation and combine it with a functional embouchure that caters to your personal physical makeup, it is possible to find the joy in playing again. I cannot wait to help you unlock the keys to your brass chops!