Raquel Samayoa is a versatile and accomplished trumpet soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, and educator. She currently serves as Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas College of Music. Prior to her appointment at UNT, Dr. Samayoa was on faculty at Tennessee Tech University and Northern Kentucky University.
An active orchestral musician, Dr. Samayoa is Principal Trumpet of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (TX) and performs regularly with the Dallas Chamber Symphony. She is also a Yamaha Performing Artist and a Denis Wick Artist and Clinician.
A passionate advocate for chamber music, Dr. Samayoa is a founding member, and formerly a core member, of two internationally acclaimed ensembles: the Lantana Trio and Seraph Brass. As a member of Seraph Brass from 2016 to 2025, she performed worldwide, bringing dynamic brass repertoire to audiences in Peru, South Korea, Mexico, Spain, Finland, and across the United States at renowned institutions such as Yale University, the University of Michigan, the University of Miami, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2025, the ensemble released Showcase (Tower Grove Records), featuring works by leading contemporary composers Jeff Scott, Reena Esmail, Kevin Day, and Kevin McKee.
Dr. Samayoa’s work with the Lantana Trio highlights her ongoing commitment to contemporary music and collaborative artistry. Their album Crossing Barriers earned widespread acclaim, receiving third place in The American Prize for the Performance of American Music (Chamber Ensemble Division), a Special Judges’ Citation for Outstanding Album of New Music for Brass Trio (2024), and a Silver Medal from the Global Music Awards (2023). In 2022, members of the trio co-hosted the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC) at UNT.
A sought-after clinician and educator, Dr. Samayoa regularly presents masterclasses, recitals, and lectures at major universities and professional conferences. She has served as a guest artist and teacher at prestigious programs such as Domaine Forget (Canada), Interlochen Arts Camp (Michigan), and the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain, and has performed in esteemed venues across the globe, including the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Australia), Moscow Conservatory (Russia), and in China, England, Finland, Mexico, South Korea, Peru, and Spain.
Dr. Samayoa has contributed scholarly articles to The Instrumentalist, Brass Band World, The Brass Herald, and the ITG Journal. In 2020, she published Dueling Fundamentals for Trumpet: Advanced Fundamental Exercises for Two Trumpets with Mountain Peak Music, a highly regarded duet book described by ITG as a “must-have” for players seeking to enrich their technical development through collaborative practice.
As a solo artist, Dr. Samayoa released Trumpet Songs on Summit Records, an album that features works for trumpet and piano and trumpet and percussion, all by women composers. The ITG Journal praised the album, stating, “Raquel Samayoa is an accomplished artist who deserves a serious listen” (June 2022). In June 2025, she reached a career milestone as the featured trumpet soloist with the Cincinnati Wind Band at Carnegie Hall, performing With Malice Toward None by John Williams.