The West Point Brass Quintet is the ceremonial brass quintet for the West Point Band. The quintet provides support for West Point ceremonies as well as other outreach events throughout the greater New York City area.
Staff Sergeant Bryan McKinney, originally from Belleview, Missouri, attended Northwestern University for his undergraduate and graduate studies. He earned his dual Bachelor of Music in music education and trumpet performance and Master of Music in trumpet performance. After his studies, he won a two-year position with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and had the pleasure of working with the conductors Bernard Haitink and Pierre Boulez. While there, he studied with Adolf Herseth and Christopher Martin. Prior to joining the Hellcats in 2010, Staff Sergeant McKinney freelanced with many of the Chicago local orchestras and taught at St. Xavier University in Chicago.
Staff Sergeant Matthew Anderson, originally from Southlake, Texas, joined the West Point Band in 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance and master’s degrees in trumpet performance and brass chamber music from the University of Michigan, where he studied with William Campbell. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the Dallas, Detroit, and Tallahassee symphony orchestras. He has performed under the batons of renowned conductors Gerard Schwarz and Leonard Slatkin. Prior to joining the Hellcats, he was a doctoral student of Dr. Christopher Moore at Florida State University and served on faculty at Darton State College in Albany, Georgia.
Sergeant First Class Matthew B. Smith, originally from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, joined the West Point Band in September of 2010. Sergeant First Class Smith received his Bachelor of Music in horn performance from Arizona State University in 2001 and then pursued graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the University of Louisville. Sergeant First Class Smith's principal teachers include Thomas Bacon, William Lane, Randy Gardner, Duane Dugger, and Bruce Heim. Prior to joining the West Point Band, Sergeant First Class Smith spent three years with the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Band at Fort Monroe, Virginia. While with the TRADOC Band, he performed in the brass quintet and concert band and served as Chief Audio Engineer. Sergeant First Class Smith has also performed with the Phoenix Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony and Pops, Richmond (Virginia) Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Evansville Philharmonic, and Louisville Orchestra.
Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, Staff Sergeant Barry Cooper moved to New York shortly after graduating high school to attend the New School University, where he studied under jazz master Benny Powell. Shortly thereafter, Staff Sergeant Cooper became a regular touring member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, performed on Sunday nights at Birdland with the Chico O’Farrill Afro-Cuban Orchestra, and had many other performances with other bands around New York City. Clark Terry was also very helpful to Staff Sergeant Cooper, inviting him to perform with a very young band he put together called “The Young Titans of Jazz.” Terry invited him to record in Bern, Switzerland, and as part of a live DVD in Birdland in New York City. While on tour with Terry in Switzerland, Staff Sergeant Cooper met the members of the Count Basie Orchestra and was invited to join. Since then, he has performed all over the world, playing in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, and Bunkyo Civic Hall in Japan. He has played with Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Liz Wright, Dianne Schuur, Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Jon Hendricks, and the Charles Tolliver Orchestra, to name a few.
