A diverse performer with extensive solo and ensemble experience, Audrey Cupples has traveled throughout the United States performing in such prestigious concert venues as New York's Carnegie Hall and Boston's Symphony Hall. Audrey was also part of an historic 18-day concert tour of the Soviet Union in 1990 that took her to Kiev, Moscow, Leningrad, Lviv, and Minsk. In 1992, she traveled to England for another concert tour that took her to the White Cliffs of Dover and London, where the final concert was given at Royal Albert Hall. In 2001, Audrey had the opportunity to perform in Lucerne, Switzerland at the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) convention.
During her career, she has appeared with celebrities Marvin Hamlisch, Teresa Stratas, Kathleen Battle, Lynn Redgrave, Shirley Jones, Aretha Franklin, Trisha Yearwood, Al Gallodoro, and Benny Carter; has performed under famous conductors including Leonard Slatkin, John Williams, Giancarlo Guerrero, Gunther Schuller, Frederick Fennell, and Donald Hunsberger; and has performed for many famous dignitaries including the late President Reagan, President H.W. Bush, President Clinton, President G.W. Bush, President Obama, the late Yitzak Rabin, Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin, South Africa's President Nelson Mandella, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Audrey was the baritone saxophonist with the East Coast Saxophone Quartet, who, in 1995, released their first album, Americana Suite. Audrey has appeared with the National Gallery Orchestra, the Arlington Symphony, and the McLean Orchestra; and has presented clinics and master classes at various universities and conventions including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, Loyola University, All-Eastern Convention, Mid-Western Convention, and the Navy Band Saxophone Symposium, where her saxophone ensemble arrangements have frequently been performed by the Inter-Service Saxophone Ensemble. In 2014, she was commissioned by the Marine Band to write arrangements for an Inter-Service Saxophone Ensemble Concert honoring the bicentennial of Adolphe Sax.
A 1986 graduate of the Eastman School of Music and a recipient of the prestigious Performer's Certificate, she played principal saxophone with the Eastman Wind Ensemble on Wynton Marsalis's Grammy-nominated album, Carnaval. In 2000, Audrey received her master's degree in music and, in 2008, her doctorate of musical arts, both from the University of Maryland, College Park.
In 1999, Audrey released her first solo album, Sunshine and Tears, featuring a variety of styles, colors, and emotions. In 2001, she was invited to become a Yamaha Artist. Since then, she has written articles for the Yamaha Educators Series, and given recitals, master classes, and clinics across the country. In 2002, Audrey was a featured saxophonist on the cover of The Saxophone Journal, where she gave an in-depth interview about herself and her career. In 2009, she wrote an article about her experiences performing for various Presidents of the United States for the summer issue of Phi Kappa Phi Forum.
From 1988 until her retirement in 2014, Audrey was the first and only woman saxophonist in "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, where she was a featured soloist on both soprano and alto saxophone. In 2014, she retired from that position, after 26 years of service.
