Virtual masterclasses for middle and high school trombone students

I am pleased to announce this joint venture with Dr. Justin Isenhour at Winthrop University! Our goal is to make quality instruction available to intermediate trombone students who may not have previously had access to such opportunities. Subscribers will receive access to four (4) virtual masterclasses each month covering everything from All-State etudes, to instrument maintenance, access to our library of archived sessions, and free access to special live events. Please visit www.thetrombonetutors.com to sign up!

Andrew Markel Low Brass Octet

Joint Commission Opportunity

I’m very excited about this project, and hope that it will be the first of many in this series! After several years of teaching low brass at a small college and large high school, it become apparent that there is a lack of accessible, high quality works for low brass ensemble. It was easy to find music for my trombone quarter, and my tuba euphonium ensemble, but there was very little to bring the entire studio together. I was introduced to the music of Andrew Markel (www.andrewmarkel.com) as a member of the Professors Choir at the Southeast Trombone Symposium, and was very impressed. After hearing Peter Steiner perform his Concerto No. 1 “Artifacts” at the 2019 International Trombone Festival, I reached out to Andrew to see if there was something we could do to address this void in the rep. The piece will be scored for Tuba Euphonium Quartet + Trombone Quartet. Andrew will use the 2019 SCBDA region band solos for Tenor Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, and Tuba as a baseline to establish the difficulty of the work. If you would like to join the Consortium, or have questions, please contact me directly.

Composition Details

  • Scored for trombone quartet (TTTB)+ Tuba Quartet (EETT).

  • Duration between 9.5-11 minutes.

  • Composed with the small university and advanced high school ensemble in mind.

  • May represent a variety of musical styles.

Consortium Details

  • January 4th, 2020 - Deadline to join consortium (15 members).

  • January 4th, 2020 - payment of $100 due.

  • February 1st, 2020 - Complete and published work sent to consortium members. Members’ copies will have individual’s names and organizations engraved on front cover page.

  • Consortium members will have exclusive performance rights until January 1st, 2021

  • Consortium members must send digital programs of the concert premieres to Andrew Markel at apmarkel94@gmail.com before the piece premiered.

  • Andrew Markel holds all copyrights and recording rights to the music. You must have permission from the composer before recording the piece.

Current Members

Eric Henson, Lander University

Nick Sullivan, University of Lethbridge

Shelby Kifer, University of Tulsa

Dr. Kenneth Kroesche, Oakland University

Dr. Justin Clarkson, Charleston Southern University

Dr. Stephen Ivany, East Carolina University

Dr. Aaron Wilson, Brandon University

Dr. Adam Frey, University of North Georgia

Fletcher Peacock, University of North Carolina, Asheville

Dr. David Porter, George Mason University

Gerry Pagano, St. Louis Symphony

Dr. Mark Britt, Furman University

Dr. David Vance, University of Saint Mary

Dr. Jason Hausback, Missouri State University

Dr. Douglas Black, Winthrop University

Kenyon Wilson Contrabass Trombone

Joint Commission Opportunity

Now is your opportunity to expand the solo repertoire for our instrument.  We’ve approached composer Kenyon Wilson (www.kenyonwilson.com) to write a new work for contrabass trombone and piano to be premiered at Ball State University at the 2019 International Trombone Festival

Details:

  • Scored for contrabass trombone and piano

  • Style is tonal with four contrasting sections, not multi-movement

  • Idiomatic to the contrabass trombone (using the single-slide in F as the guide, though playable on the double-slide in B-flat)

  • No extended techniques or mutes required

  • Length is expected to be 5-8 minutes

Premieres:

  • Composition will be debuted by Eric Henson at the 2019 International Trombone Festival (July 10-13, 2019)

  • Each first performance by a commissioning member will be considered a “premiere performance”

Members:

  • Cost to join the commissioning consortium is $75

  • Members will be listed in commissioning order on the published version and on the website and announced at the debut at ITF

Timeline:

  • January 31st, 2019:  Expression of interest

  • February 10th, 2019:  Payment due

  • March 1, 2019:  Completed composition available

To join the commission, please email Eric Henson at hensonsmusic@gmail.com.

Current Members

Eric Henson, Augusta Symphony

James Nova, Pittsburgh Symphony

Denson Paul Pollard, Indiana University

Matthew Guilford, National Symphony Orchestra

Shelby Kifer, University of Tulsa

Christopher Bassett, Jacksonville Symphony

Eric High, St. Norbert College

Javier Colomer, Escola Comarcal de Música del Comtat

Charlie Vernon, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Derek Bromme, University of Minnesota, Duluth

Karl Wiederwohl, MacPhail Center for Music

Gerry Pagano, St. Louis Symphony

Christian Jones, Royal Northern College of Music