Betty Glover, one of the first female orchestral trombonists in the United States, passed away on September 27, 2022 at the age of 99.
Glover studied trombone with Ernest Glover at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music (CCM) from 1941-1944. Shortly after graduation, she won the audition for principal trombone with the Kansas City Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1952, Glover was appointed bass trombone with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a position she held until 1985.
Glover began her teaching career at Otterbein College in 1950, before moving to CCM in 1952. In addition to teaching trombone, euphonium, and orchestral repertoire, she became director of the CCM Brass Choir in 1969, which performed traditional works alongside world premieres. In 1983, the CCM Brass Choir performed on the first transatlantic broadcast from the United States to Europe.
Glover received many prestigious awards, including the 2022 ITA Lifetime Achievement Award. The October 2022 ITA Journal contains a beautiful feature on Glover’s career and impact by Jared Gilbert.
ITA extends its condolences to Glover’s family and loved ones.
Matthew Guilford, bass trombonist with the National Symphony and senior lecturer at University of Maryland, College Park, will be a featured soloist with the UMD Wind Orchestra. On December 9, 2022, Guilford will perform James Stephenson’s Sonata Rhapsody “The Arch” on a program that also includes music by Lance Hulme, William Grant Still, and Carlos Simon.
Stephenson composed Sonata Rhapsody “The Arch” in 2010 for Gerry Pagano, former bass trombonist of the St. Louis Symphony. There are many similarities between the sonata and the St. Louis Arch — for example, the outer width of the arch is 630 feet, while the the piece is 630 measures. The version for wind ensemble was commissioned by Grady McGrannahan as a retirement gift for his father, Mack McGrannahan, former Director of Bands and Low Brass Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Guilford has served as bass trombonist of the National Symphony since 1991 and has taught at UMD since 1993. He has performed with several of America’s leading orchestras including the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Minnesota Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony.
The concert will be open to public and will also be available to livestream. Tickets for both options are “pay what you wish.”
David Krauss, Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, hosts Speaking Soundly, a new podcast that interviews today’s top performers. According to the website, the podcast “brings the lives and stories of high-profile, international, diverse, and vibrant performing artists to listeners.” Denson Paul Pollard, Professor of Music at Indiana University and member of the MET Opera Orchestra, was a recent guest and a future episode will feature Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic. Other notable guests include Isabel Leonard, Christian McBride, Emanuel Ax, and Evelyn Glennie.
Speaking Soundly Podcast is produced by Artful Narratives Media and can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you choose to get your podcasts. For further information, contact Co-Founder Jessica Handelman.
Cory Mixdorf, along with pianist Miroslava Panayotova, proudly offers his first solo album, aptly titled Songs & Elegies. With the aim of creating an album that mostly focuses on the cantabile side of the instrument, the repertoire is split into three categories: vocal pieces, elegies, and other song-related works.
Mixdorf uses vocal repertoire often in performance and pedagogy. These “song-stories sung through the trombone” include:
- Antonín Dvořák’s “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka
- “Ich will bei meinem Jesu wachen” from J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
- Tchaikovsky’s “None But the Lonely Know”
- “At the Feet o’ Jesus” a spiritual composed by Arkansas native Florence Price
- Jane Martin’s Adonai, which is based on Psalm 22.
The three elegies recorded here include two original works by Joe Buono and Anthony Barfield, as well as a transcription of Alexander Glazunov’s Élégie, Op. 44, originally written for viola.
The final category are pieces originally written for the trombone that are very song-oriented. Norman Bolter’s The Song of King David depicts the life and struggles of the Old Testament king. Ross Wixon composed The Troubadour in 2011, and harkens back to the medieval singer/poets, but set in a modern harmonic texture. Finally, Susan Mutter’s Song of Survival was written in 2021 as a reflection of Mixdorf’s son’s journey through treatments for medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
Songs and Elegies is available on all major streaming music platforms. If a hard copy CD is desired, please contact Cory Mixdorf. This album was funded in part by a Seed Grant at the University of Arkansas, where Mixdorf serves as the Associate Professor of Trombone. Cory Mixdorf is a Greenhoe Trombones Featured Artist.
Norwegian Martha Eikemo Andersen won the bass trombone audition for the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Congratulations!
Philip and Shelley Martinson recently released Duprass: Music for Flute and Trombone. Committed to creating and performing new works for flute and trombone, the Martinsons have commissioned and premiered numerous pieces for this unique instrumentation. The album includes compositions by Paul Richards, James Beckel, Nicole Chamberlain, and Donald Appert.
The Martinsons are both professors at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Dr. Philip Martinson is a tenured member of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic (second trombone), and also performs as principal trombone of the Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra.
The album can be purchased here or streamed here. For further information, please contact Dr. Philip Martinson.
Photo credit: Chris Christodoulou
On August 16, 2022, Peter Moore became the first trombonist in over 20 years to be featured as a concerto soloist at the BBC Proms. Moore performed George Walker’s Trombone Concerto, which was composed in 1957. Moore performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Vasily Petrenko. The concert opened with Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring and closed with Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.
The program can be heard in its entirety here. The concerto starts at approximately ’28:35.’
Moore was the winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2008 when he was only 12 years old, and is the youngest winner of the competition to date. In 2014, Moore was appointed co-principal trombone, the youngest ever member of the orchestra.
George Walker was the first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He published over 90 works, and was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and many other ensembles. During his storied career, he was awarded six honorary doctorates.
On August 27, 2022, the trombone section of the Northshore Concert Band (Evanston, Illinois) performed the National Anthem at a Chicago White Sox/Arizona Diamondbacks Major League Baseball game at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois. Conducted by Douglas Yeo, the NCB trombones—tenor trombonists Andy Burkemper, Mitchell Clark, Greg Glover, Brad Say, Joe Schorer, Bryan Tipps, and bass trombonists Paul Bauer, and Dan DiCesare—performed an arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner by Robert Elkjer.
For more information about the Northshore Concert Band, visit northshoreband.org
Photo by Chad Leonard
Trombonist Ben McIlwain’s solo debut album, “indefatigable,” has dropped! The album includes recordings of the following works for trombone that he commissioned:
- Alan Theisen’s Symphony No. 2 for Clarinet, Trombone, and Piano (featuring Jacqueline McIlwain, clarinet)
- Joe Buono’s Elegy
- James David‘s Secure.Contain.Protect – Sonata for Trombone and Piano
- Charles Ingram’s Sonatina
- Joshua Mize‘s Galaxy Unknown
Ellen Elder performs as collaborative pianist on all pieces except for the Mize. The recording engineer was Andy Gilstrap, producer was Nick Laufer, mixing/mastering was done by TJ Tesh, and project manager was Karen Cubides. Many of these recordings will be world premiere recordings.
Dr. Ben McIlwain joined the faculty of The University of Southern Mississippi in Fall 2010. McIlwain has been actively involved in commissioning nearly 50 new works for trombone solo and/or ensemble. His group, Tromboteam, successfully raised $10,000 through Kickstarter to commission and record new works for trombone ensemble.
For further information on McIlwain and his debut album, please visit his website.
The 26th Annual North Carolina Trombone Festival will be held January 21st, 2023 at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Designed for trombonists of all ages, the festival cultivates fellowship through clinics, presentations, solo recitals, and ensemble performances. Participants have opportunities to join esteemed faculty from North Carolina and the greater region in a variety of settings. This year’s festival will feature international soloist, Yu Tamaki Hoso.
The call for proposals to perform, present, or serve as a clinician is now open. Please visit Charlotte Trombone Collective’s website to apply. For further questions, contact festival host, Dr. Jeremy Marks.
