About Five Borough Brass

Five Borough Brass is a quartet specializing in traditional and sacred music for weddings, holiday events, private parties, and even surprise engagements!  Our members have decades' combined experience performing music for all occasions, and have studied at the top music schools and conservatories in the US.  Your special day will be one to remember with Five Borough Brass.

Members

Steven-Jon Billings is a freelance trumpet player, recording artist/producer and teacher in the New York City area. He has played principal, lead, and solo trumpet for numerous orchestras, big bands, ensembles, and churches throughout the US and Europe, and holds a BM in Trumpet Performance from Metropolitan State University of Denver. He’s had the honor of playing with renowned Grammy award winning and nominated gospel artists Tye Tribbet and Kim Burrell, Paul John Jr. (Alicia Keys’ longtime drummer), Don Byron (clarinetist/composer), Wayne Horvitz (composer/keyboardist of Naked City), Ron Miles (trumpeter/recording artist), Bobby Shew (lead/jazz trumpet player), Marshall Allen (current leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra), James Miller (former Principal Trumpet of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra). Steven-Jon has played at New York venues including Radio City Music Hall, The Bowery Electric, South Street Seaport’s See/Change, as well as Denver’s Wells Fargo Theatre, Seawell Grand Ballroom, DazzleJazz, and Phoenix’s Marquee Theatre, The Nile, and Modified Arts. He has also played throughout the Mediterranean as a lead trumpet player for Royal Caribbean. As a recording artist, he began recording and producing his musical collaborations when he was 15 years old. He has since also worked as a studio musician at incredible studios such as Avatar Studios, Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and Colorado Sound Studios, as well as a producer at Mighty Fine Productions. As a passionate educator, he was the Brass Instructor and Assistant Director for two years in a public elementary school, has been a clinician and lecturer from the elementary to high school level, and has given private lessons to students of all ages. For two summers he worked as a Staff Member and Lead Trumpet player at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where he mentored and rehearsed a youth big band that he took on tour throughout Europe. In 2010, Steven-Jon was a semi-finalist at the National Trumpet Competition. 

John Lake is a trumpet player, composer, and music educator based in New York City. Lake holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music in Jazz and Studio Music, and a Master of Music in Jazz Trumpet from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Additionally, John attended the Banff International Workshop for Jazz and Creative Music in 2010, and has appeared on Jazz89 KUVO Denver as a featured guest. He has performed at the 2012 Jazz Educator Network National Conference, JazzFest Denver 2010, Jazz Peru 2009, The 2008 International Society for Improvised Music Conference, and at Downbeat Magazine’s “Top 100 Jazz Clubs” Dazzle Jazz Restaurant and Lounge in Denver, Colorado, and The Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2011, John was selected as a finalist in the International Trumpet Guild’s bi-annual Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Soloist Competition.

Jenny Ney is active in the New York area as a teacher and French horn performer. She performs on both modern and historical instruments. She has performed in venues throughout NYC and beyond in orchestral, chamber, jazz, and solo capacities, including such groups as the Juilliard Orchestra and Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. Ms. Ney holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music. She is currently studying in the artist diploma program at Rutgers University.  Ms. Ney works as a Teaching Artist Apprentice with the New York Philharmonic’s School Partnership Program. She began teaching artist work in her recent time at Juilliard, where she was named a Morse Fellow. In this capacity she taught second grade classes at P.S. 11 in Manhattan. Additionally she has ten years of experience teaching private instrumental lessons, including through the Music Advancement Program at Juilliard.  Ms. Ney has participated in the summer music festivals of the National Repertory Orchestra, Chautauqua Institution, Pierre Monteux School, and Blanche Bryden Sunflower Institute. She lives in Manhattan with her husband Jon.

Timothy Thompson is a freelance trombonist in the NYC area that grew up in the wide- open spaces of Oklahoma. He finished his masters in bass trombone performance from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in May 2013 where he studied with Steve Norrell, the current bass trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Thompson’s extensive experience includes playing in orchestras, all sizes of brass ensembles, jazz big bands, and gospel orchestras both on the tenor and bass trombones. He is currently a trombone teacher with the Manhattan School of Music in their Distance- Learning program. He received his bachelors in trombone performance from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2011. He has won and competed in several competitions on the bass trombone including most recently being a finalist in the 2012 International Trombone Association’s Edward Kleinhammer competition, and continues to push himself by performing in numerous ensembles and solo recitals. Tim began his musical career at age 6 with the piano, and shifted through several instruments until finally settling down with the bass guitar and the trombone in middle school. He began taking lessons on the bass guitar and double bass when he was 12 years old and played most frequently in symphonic bands, school jazz bands and pick-up jazz combos. But one of the most rewarding places he has found to play and put his talents into is his church with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is his center. Apart from his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Tim also finds much enjoyment making music with his wife Zhi Li-Thompson and challenging them both with new and different music.