Every working musician knows the importance of gigging. Hailey Brinnel, BYR ’18, learned this lesson long before her time at Temple. Starting at age 12, while her peers were at slumber parties and sports games, she was performing gigs with her dad, Dave Brinnel, a jazz keyboardist and singer.
Photo by Photo Credit: Joseph V. Labolito
One thing I love about the music school at Temple is that it’s not a conservatory, it’s a college. But the playing level is so high! It’s competitive, but not cutthroat. You’re being pushed and that’s beneficial.”
The Brinnel father-daughter duo played jazzy covers and classic pop tunes in bars and clubs across Western Massachusetts, where Brinnel grew up.
“It was interesting coming up through that,” she remembers. “I stopped being nervous about performing, and that was a gift as a young musician.”
Brinnel always loved music; her parents frequently played big band jazz around the house, and she started taking drum lessons when she was seven years old. Known for its strong classical music program, Brinnel later attended Longmeadow High School where she found her passion for the trombone.
When it was time for her to choose a college, Temple was Brinnel’s first choice. She had wanted to be a music teacher since she was little, and the unique five-year jazz education program at Boyer College of Music and Dance caught her eye.
Once at Temple, Brinnel pushed herself in and outside the classroom. She joined the Temple University Jazz Band led by Terell Stafford, was a Diamond Peer teacher and participated in the Honors LLC program. In the summer of 2014, she received a grant that allowed her to conduct research in New Orleans, and in the summer of 2016, joined a program at the Amsterdam Conservatory.
She also worked weekends in a wedding band and, during her fourth year, played a two-month run with the DIVA Jazz Orchestra at Penn’s Landing.
“Being a working musician is about making professional connections so when you graduate, you’re already out there and earning money. So, I prioritized that,” she said.
Even though Brinnel arrived at Temple with a strong musical foundation, the program helped her make profound progress, both academically and musically. She credits Trombone Professor Mark Patterson with shaping the way she plays and conceptualizes music, and Greg Kettinger, a guitar and jazz theory professor, for teaching her how to improvise.
College: Boyer College of Music and Dance
Degree: BM, music education, 2018
Industry: Music
Hometown: Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Since graduating in 2018, Brinnel has flourished as a Philadelphia-based jazz musician. In addition to teaching at the University of the Arts and the Kimmel Center, she leads her own quartet that regularly plays concerts and is signed with Outside in Music, a New York-based record label.
In 2021, Brinnel was named a finalist in the Sara Vaughan International Jazz Vocal competition. That same year, her debut album I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles hit No. 13 on Amazon’s Jazz New Release chart and No. 44 on Amazon’s Jazz Bestseller chart.
And even with her busy schedule, she still finds time to play music with her original bandmate.
“I go home once a year and play a gig with my dad,” she says. “He’s so proud and one of my biggest cheerleaders.”
