Purpose

The ITA Award recognizes an elite level of creative and artistic output in areas such as trombone performance, composition, arranging, teaching, conducting, research, and/or service. One award is given each year.

Selection Criteria

Candidates for the ITA Award shall:

  • Have made important and outstanding contributions to the trombone community
  • Have demonstrated an exceptional level of creative and artistic output
  • Have demonstrated outstanding dedication to his/her profession
  • Have demonstrated a high level of commitment or service to the ITA

Selection Process

  • ITA members may submit nominations for the awards. Each nomination should include a short (under 250 words) biography for each nominee.
  • Nominations are closed by the end of the day on January 1 each year.
  •  Nominations remain active for three years after which time, a candidate may be renominated for consideration for an award.
  • Members of the Standing Committee on Awards may not submit nominations for awards.
  • If a member of the Committee on Awards is nominated for an award, that Committee member must either resign from the Committee, depart from the Committee for one year, or withdraw their nomination from consideration.
  • Once all nominations are received, the Standing Committee on Awards will convene either in person or virtually to discuss the nominations (new nominations as well as those that carry over from previous years) for each award.
  • The Committee will, after consideration of the nominees, arrive at consensus and prepare a ballot that lists three nominees for each award. If an award has received fewer than three nominations or if the Committee agrees that there are not three qualified candidates for an award, the Chair of the Committee on Awards shall consult with the Chair of the ITA Executive Board who, in consultation with the Executive Board, decide if additional nominees should be added to the ballot to bring the number of candidates up to three, or if the ballot shall be prepared with fewer than three candidates.
  • The ballot shall be prepared by the Chair of the Committee on Awards with (if technical assistance is required) the assistance of the Chair of the Committee on Governance and/or the ITA Executive Director. The ballot shall ask those voting to assign a ranking of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd to each nominee on the ballot.
  • The Committee on Awards is to include the submitted biography for each nominee who is on the ballot. These biographies will be included with the ballot.
  • On February 1 of each year, a ballot with the candidates for each award shall be sent to the ITA Officers (President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President,), members of the Council of Past Presidents, and members of the ITA Board of Advisors. If a person serves the ITA in more than one capacity, that person may cast only one vote.
  • Any ITA Officer, member of the Council of Past Presidents, and member of the ITA Board of Advisors who appears on the ballot for any award may not vote for that award.
  • A 1st place vote shall receive 3 points; a 2nd place vote shall receive 2 points; a 3rd place vote shall receive 1 point. Upon tabulation of all votes, the candidate receiving the most votes and who also more than 50% of the total number of points (determined by multiplying the number of people casting ballots by 3), shall be declared the winner of the Award. If no nominee receives more than 50% of the total number of points on the first ballot, the nominee who received the lowest number of points shall be dropped from the ballot and a second ballot shall be distributed with the names of the top two nominees. If the 2nd and 3rd place nominees are tied with the same number of points on the first ballot, the nominee with the most second place points shall advance to the second ballot along with the nominee with the most points. If after the second ballot no nominee receives more than 50% of the total number of points, the Award will not be given.
  • Voting shall be concluded by February 1 of each year. Those who vote for awards shall do so anonymously and the results of voting shall go directly to the Chair of the Committee on Awards. The Chair of the Committee on Awards shall collate the ballots and determine the winner of each award. Once winners for each award are determined, the Chair of the Committee on Awards shall inform the ITA Executive Board, members of the Council of Past Presidents, and the members of the Board of Advisors.

Nominations may be sent to the Chair of the ITA’s Standing Committee on Awards at awards@trombone.net.

Previous Recipients

  • 1972
    Henry Romersa
    Founder, International Trombone Workshop
  • 1973
    Lewis Van Haney*
    Former Professor, Indiana University
  • 1974
    Buddy Baker
    Former Professor, University of Northern Colorado
  • 1975
    Robert King*
    Owner and Founder, Robert King Music Company
  • 1976
    Gordon Pulis*
    Former Principal Trombonist, New York Philharmonic
  • 1977
    John Coffey*
    Former Bass Trombonist, Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • 1978
    Stuart Dempster
    Former Professor, University of Washington
  • 1979
    Thomas Beversdorf*
    Former Professor, Indiana University
  • 1980
    Thomas Everett
    Professor, Harvard University
  • 1981
    Allen Ostrander*
    Former Bass Trombonist, New York Philharmonic
  • 1982
    George Roberts*
    Los Angeles based Freelance Trombonist
  • 1983
    Leon Brown*
    Former Professor, North Texas State University
  • 1984
    Neill Humfeld*
    Former Professor, East Texas State University
  • 1985
    Urbie Green*
    Jazz Artist, New York City
  • 1986
    Edward Kleinhammer*
    Former Bass Trombonist, Chicago Symphony
  • 1987
    William Cramer*
    Former Professor, Florida State University
  • 1988
    J. J. Johnson*
    Legendary Jazz Artist
  • 1989
    Denis Wick
    Former Principal Trombonist, London Symphony Orchestra
  • 1990
    Frank Crisafulli*
    Former Trombonist, Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  • 1991
    Christian Lindberg
    Virtuoso Solo Trombonist, Stockholm, Sweden
  • 1992
    Juliusz Pietrachowicz
    Former Principal Trombonist, Warsaw Philharmonic
  • 1993
    Larry Wiehe* (posthumously)*
    Former Trombone Soloist, US Navy Band and US Air Force Band
  • 1994
    Robert Isele*
    Former Trombone Soloist, US Marine Band and Trombonist, National Symphony Orchestra
  • 1995
    Vern Kagarice*
    Professor, University of North Texas
  • 1996
    Carsten Svanberg
    Professor, Musikhochschule, Graz, Austria
  • 1997
    Irvin Wagner*
    Professor, University of Oklahoma
  • 1998
    Carl Fontana*
    Legendary Jazz Artist, Las Vegas
  • 1999
    John Marcellus*
    Professor, Eastman School of Music
  • 2000
    Heinz Fadle*
    Professor, Detmold Hochschule for Musik, Germany
  • 2001
    Phil Wilson
    Professor, Berklee College of Music
  • 2002
    Joseph Alessi
    Principal Trombonist, New York Philharmonic
  • 2003
    Ben van Dijk
    Bass Trombonist, Rotterdam Philharmonic
  • 2004
    Jay Friedman
    Principal Trombonist, Chicago Symphony
  • 2005
    Ron Barron
    Former Principal Trombonist, Boston Symphony
  • 2006
    Don Lusher*
    British Jazz Trombone Artist
  • 2007
    Michel Becquet
    French Solo Trombonist & Professor, Conservatoire de Lyon
  • 2008
    Dick Nash
    Los Angeles Recording Artist
  • 2009
    Steve Wolfinbarger
    Professor, Western Michigan University
  • 2010
    Gustav Hoena
    Professor, Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Hungary
  • 2011
    Ralph Sauer
    Former Principal Trombonist, Los Angeles Philharmonic
  • 2012
    Per Brevig
    Former Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York
  • 2013
    Ian Bousfield
    British Trombone Soloist, Professor Hochschule Bern, former principal trombone London Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic.
  • 2014
    Douglas Yeo
    Former Professor, Arizona State University. Former bass trombonist, Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • 2015
    Bart van Lier
    Former Principal Trombone, Metropole Orkest, the Netherlands
  • 2016
    David Taylor
    Bass Trombone, New York City
  • 2017
    Wycliffe Gordon
    International Jazz artist
  • 2018
    Alain Trudel
    International Trombone Soloist
  • 2019
    Michael Mulcahy
    Chicago Symphony Orchestra
  • 2020
    Megumi Kanda
    Principal Trombone, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra,
  • 2021
    Charles Vernon
    Bass Trombone, Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
  • 2022
    Carol Jarvis
    Trombone soloist, London, U.K.
  • 2023
    Jörgen van Rijen
    Principal Trombone, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam
  • 2024
    John Fedchock
    New York Jazz artist
  • 2025
    Don Lucas
    Associate Professor Boston University School of Music