Trombone Day: Sunday, October 9, 2011

Created and directed by Wesley Hopper and Angel Subero, this all-day celebration of the trombone features lectures, master classes, instrument vendors and performances by Blair Bollinger, Michael Davis, Triton Brass, The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble and the trombone faculty of The Boston Conservatory, including Larry Isaacson, Norman Bolter, John Faieta, Angel Subero and more!

This event is sponsored by The Boston Conservatory and S. E. Shires Co.

Registration and Fees

For registration details, email Event Coordinator Wesley Hopper at TromboneDay@bostonconservatory.edu. Attendess may pay online or at door day of event (cash or check accepted). 

Payment Options

Schedule of Events

All Trombone Day events take place Sunday, October 9 at:

The Boston Conservatory Theater
31 Hemenway Street
Boston, MA 02215

All events are subject to change.

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: check-in

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: warm-up session and lecture by Lawrence Isaacson

Lawrence (Larry) Isaacson earned a B.M. with honors from Northwestern University. He has studied with Arnold Jacobs, Frank Crisafulli, Dave Langlitz, Ron Barron and Glenn Dodson and in 1979 served as a fellow at Tanglewood Music Center. Prior to joining The Boston Conservatory, Isaacson served as faculty of Boston University, MIT, the New England Conservatory (NEC), the University of New Hampshire, Tufts University, Mannes College of Music and Tanglewood. He is a former member of the Empire Brass Quintet, San Francisco Symphony and Boston Pops. Isaacson has performed with the Boston, Chicago, Detroit and San Diego Symphonies and has experience in all musical mediums, including television, radio, commercials, recordings, ballet, opera, musical theater and music video. He has traveled extensively for concerts to Europe, Japan, Canada and most of the US.

Isaacson currently serves as music director and conductor of the Neponset Valley Philharmonic (www.nvporchestra.org), conductor of the Old South Brass in Boston and director of The Boston Conservatory Brass Ensemble. He is a regular guest conductor at the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado) and has guest conducted at Longwood Symphony (Massahusetts), Festival-Institute at Round Top (Texas), Usdan Center for the Performing Arts (New York), as well as the Oregon Symphony and the Eastern Music Festival. More information and upcoming events can be viewed at www.lawrenceisaacson.com.

10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: masterclass led by John Faieta

John Faieta, Trombone, of Lynn Massachusetts received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Boston University.  

John performs frequently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra and the Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra.  He is currently principal trombonist with the Nashua Symphony Orchestra and is the former principal trombonist with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.  

Mr. Faieta was an original member of the award winning Atlantic Brass Quintet.  After twenty-two years with the ensemble he retired in 2007.  

Mr. Faieta continues to teach along side the group as guest faculty at the annual Atlantic Brass Quintet International seminar held here at Boston University.  

John Faieta is Associate Professor of Brass at the Berklee College of Music and is also on faculty at The Boston Conservatory.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.: recital presented by Angel Subero

Venezuelan Trombonist Angel Subero, started his musical studies at the age of 13. He attended the Conservatorio Itinerante in Venezuela where he studied with the legendary Michel Becquet; In the USA he studied with Lawrence Isaacson, John Rojak, Douglas Yeo and studied jazz with Claudio Roditi and Jeff Galindo. In 2005 Mr. Subero was a finalist for the prestigious Zellmer-Minnesotta Orchestra International Trombone Competition and the Donald Yaxley Trombone Competition. He Attended the Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music where he received the NEC Merit Award graduating with distinction in Performance where he studied with Mr. Douglas Yeo Bass Trombonists of the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Mr. Subero has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Pops, The Boston Modern Orchestra Project, The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The Boston Ballet Orchestra, The Starwars in Concert Symphony Orchestra, National Lyric Opera, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, the Caracas Philharmonic, the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony, Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de las Juventudes Andinas, the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra, among others. As a chamber musician he has appeared with the Burning River Brass, the Camerata Pacifica, the Atlantic Brass Quintet, The Boston Symphony Brass Ensemble, the Triton Brass Quintet, the Frequency Band Trombone Choir, the Boston Invitational Trombone Ensemble, the Venezuelan Brass ensemble and the Venezuelan Trombone Ensemble.

Mr. Subero has worked with such conductors as James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, John Williams, Kurt Masur, Keith Lockhart, Robert Spano, Sir Colin Davis, James Conlon, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, David Robertson and Christoph von Dohnanyi, Charles Dutoit, Ingo Metzmacher, Lorin Maazel, James Depreist, among others

In the realm of Jazz, Latin and commercial music Mr. Subero has appeared with artists such as Slide Hampton, Bob Brookmeyer, Jim McNeely, Claudio Roditi, Danilo Perez, New York Voices, the John Allmark Jazz Orchestra, Chris Botti, Rockapella, Boston, Temptations, The Ebonys, The Stylistics, The Manhattans, Jethro Tull, Oscar d Leon, Dimension Latina, Isaac Delgado, Jose "Cheo" Feliciano, Larry Harlow, Rodolfo Reyes y Saxomania, Victor Mendoza, Greg Hopkins Bigband, Bonerama, Oscar Stagnaro, Egui Castrillo and the Palledium Orchestra, Ensamble Gurrufio, and Serenata Guayanesa. Mr. Subero can be heard on recordings with the Boston Modern Project Orchestra (Grammy-nominee), La Clave Secreta (Grammy Nominee 2009), the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra, Ensamble Gurrufio, Serenata Guayanesa, Jerry Gonzalez, Eguie Castrillo and the Palladium Orchestra, Rodolfo Reyes y Saxomania, Gian Carlos Buscaglia, Rebel Tumbao, Carlos d Leon, Salsa Night Band among others

He attended the Aspen Music Festival and was a fellowship student at Tanglewood Music Center where he received the Omar de'l Carlo Fellowship and the Harry Shapiro Award; He was a fellow at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.

Most recently Mr. Subero was a guest soloist with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project which commissioned a Trombone Concerto "From the Institutes of Groove" that was written and for him by Grammy-nominated composer, Michael Gandolfi. Mr. Subero recorded "From the Institutes of Groove" with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (Grammy-Nominee 2010)   and will be release under the BEMOP/Sound record label.

Mr. Subero plays S.E Shires Custom Trombones exclusively. He has given master classes and recitals in the USA, Europe, Japan, Mexico and Venezuela among other countries. He has been a regular guest professor at the State Foundation for the National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras of Venezuela "EL SISTEMA" and has given clinics to the "Academia Latino-Americana de Trombones" in Venezuela. Mr. Subero is on the faculty at the Boston Conservatory of Music.

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: lunch break (meals not provided)

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.: masterclass/performance by Blair Bollinger

Blair Bollinger enjoys a varied musical career as a trombonist, a teacher and a conductor. He is the Bass Trombonist of the Philadelphia Orchestra where his chair is endowed by Dr. Bong and Mi-Wha Lee. He joined the Orchestra in 1986 at the invitation of Music Director Riccardo Muti and enjoys the full Orchestra schedule of more than 160 concerts each year along with many recordings and international tours, spanning the tenures of Muti, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Christoph Eschenbach and Charles Dutoit.

As a soloist, Mr. Bollinger has performed with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta 

Symphony, National Symphony of Taiwan and others. He has performed recitals and given master classes in Brazil, Chile, China, Holland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Poland, Taiwan and throughout the United States.  Mr. Bollinger has been featured at multiple international and domestic brass conferences. As a student he won the 1986 Philadelphia Orchestra Greenfield Competition and remains the only trombonist to win this competition since it began in 1934 as well as the only bass trombone soloist ever with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In March 2007 he performed the World Premiere of a Bass Trombone Concerto written for him by Philadelphia composer Jay Krush with the US Army Orchestra at the Eastern Trombone Workshop.  His trombone is the Bollinger Model bass trombone by the S.E. Shires Company of Hopedale, MA; a trombone Mr. Bollinger helped design  

His recordings include a solo disc, "Fancy Free", for d'Note Records, hailed by American Record Guide as "The recording I've been waiting for ... an amazing display of Bollinger's virtuoso skills." Other recordings are 2 discs with his trombone quartet "Four of a Kind" and a Gabrieli disc with the Canadian Brass. With "Four of a Kind", Mr. Bollinger has toured Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. and appeared at several trombone conferences. An active arranger, his arrangements of music for various string and brass ensembles are published by Alphonse Leduc in Paris, Ensemble Publications in New York and Southern Music in Texas

Mr. Bollinger is the founding Music Director of the Bar Harbor Brass Week in Maine where he conducts, performs and teaches each summer. He is a frequent guest conductor with the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia, the Delaware County Symphony, the Atlantic Brass Band and other orchestras in the Philadelphia area

A 1986 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, he studied with Charles Vernon and Glenn Dodson. Mr. Bollinger is now on faculty at Curtis and Temple University. In addition to teaching lessons, he also conducts many classes and sectional rehearsals at Curtis, Temple and the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. He has spent recent summers performing and teaching in the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming, Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, Vail Music Festival in Colorado, Saratoga Performing Arts Center and Luzerne Music Center in New York, Bar Harbor Brass Week in Maine, Blast of Brass Conference in Texas and the Lindenbaum Music Festival in Seoul, Korea.

Mr. Bollinger is also very active in backstage administration work at Curtis and the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the Orchestra he has negotiated union contracts, served on marketing and education committees and chaired the committee which selected incoming Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin . He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Curtis and has served on many Faculty and Board committees including Accreditation, Academic Honesty, Curriculum, Facilities, Library, Mission Review and Student Life.

3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.: masterclass/performance by Michael Davis

Trombonist-composer Michael Davis does it all. Hailed as one of today's premier instrumentalists, he has established himself as a first-call sideman, both in the studio and on the concert stage, for the entertainment world's biggest stars, including the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nelly, Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson. In the field of music education, he has served as a clinician around the world, while also authoring a number of highly esteemed instructional books and band arrangements for musicians of all ages and abilities.

For the past ten years Davis has been forging ahead as an entrepreneur, with Hip-Bone Music, a growing business that presently handles his publishing activities and work as a recording artist. Dedicated to increasing the popularity and stature of brass instruments and emphasizing "how hip, cool and fun it is to play music," Hip-Bone Music is set on expanding its educational focus and becoming a viable avenue for other brass artists.

A native of San Jose, California, Davis received his musical training at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Upon graduation he hooked up with the Buddy Rich Band for a two-year stint that brought an immeasurable amount of bandstand experience and a wealth of professional friendships that continue to this day. He settled in Manhattan in the mid-1980s and before long was being regarded as one of the top trombonists around. As testimony to his versatility and wide regard, the list of jazz and pop luminaries he has worked with over the years reads like a who's who: Sarah Vaughan, Sting, Harry Connick, Jr., David Sanborn, Beck, Branford Marsalis, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Lyle Lovett, Terence Blanchard, Bob Mintzer and scores of others.

A multiple recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Davis maintains his own jazz groups and projects as well. Through Hip-Bone Music, Davis has documented his efforts on five solo CDs — Trumpets Eleven, a showcase for eleven virtuosic trumpet masters; New Brass, a melding of jazz and classical brass styles; Brass Nation, a gathering together of fifty-five of the world's greatest brass players; Bonetown, a pairing of Davis with LA bass trombone maestro Bill Reichenbach; and Absolute Trombone, yet another musical conclave, this time with eighteen New York City-based trombonists.

Acknowledged by popular musicians, fellow educators and audiences around the world as an immensely talented musical artist who's committed to setting the highest standards possible for both jazz and his instrument, it is no wonder that legendary Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts was moved to comment, "In this ‘bone-dry' era, it is essential to have Michael Davis around."

5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.: Seminar – Music as a Living Thing

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Norman Bolter was first inspired to play the trombone when, at age four, he saw the Captain Kangaroo television show character, Mr. Greenjeans, play the same instrument. Mr. Bolter began his formal trombone studies at age nine with Ed VonHoff of the St. Paul Public School System. Later, he studied with Ronald Rickets and Steven Zellmer of the Minnesota Orchestra and with John Swallow at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Bolter also includes former BSO principal bassoonist, Sherman Walt, among his mentors.

A Tanglewood Fellow and C.D. Jackson Award winner, Mr. Bolter joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1975 at age 20, becoming the youngest member of the orchestra at that time. He played with the BSO for 32 years and continues to maintain an active playing and conducting schedule. As well, he was principal trombonist of the Boston Pops Orchestra and was a founding member of the Empire Brass Quintet, which won the prestigious Walter H. Naumberg Award in Chamber Music, the first brass ensemble ever to win this award. Mr. Bolter has appeared, as a member of the Boston Pops Orchestra, on the televised PBS favorite Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler, John Williams and Keith Lockhart as conductors. He has toured extensively in the US, Europe, Asia and South America with the BSO, the Pops and the Empire Brass and has made many recordings with them. He also appears as principal trombonist on recordings with Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. Furthermore, Mr. Bolter appears as soloist and/or conductor on five recordings of his own compositions, Experiments in Music, Anew at Home, Occurrences, In Living Continuance and Phoenix. In addition to his numerous trombone solos, Mr. Bolter performed the acclaimed euphonium solo in the BSO recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 7 (Philips Classics Productions, 1990) and also played euphonium on the Minnesota Orchestra recording of Ein Heldenleben by Richard Strauss.

A renowned teacher, Mr. Bolter serves on the faculties of the New England Conservatory, Boston Conservatory and Longy School of Music. Mr. Bolter's conducting and coaching include the New England Conservatory Trombone Ensemble and brass chamber groups. He founded both the brass repertoire class at NEC and the trombone choir in the NEC Prep division. Mr. Bolter also has served on the faculties of Mannis School of Music and Boston University, as a member of quintet in residence Empire Brass Quintet; the University of South Florida and the University of

Massachusetts – Amherst, where he also taught composition; Boston University Tanglewood Institute; and the Tanglewood Music Center. Mr. Bolter's students have included not only trombonists, but French hornists, trumpters and tubists, many of whom hold positions in major symphony orchestras, chamber music groups and universities around the world.

Mr. Bolter regularly conducts master classes and clinics in the US, Canada and abroad, including weeklong master classes with El Sistema in Venezuela as part of New England Conservatory's summer music seminar). Additionally, he codirects the Frequency Band with Dr. Carol Viera, is coauthor, with Dr. Viera, of several publications on music pedagogy and performance, including Methods of Effective Practice, High Range Exercises, It's Not All in the Air and The Metronome Meditation, and author/composer of a sight reading book for advanced trombone players, Reading at the Speed of Sight. Mr. Bolter also maintains a multimedia music blog, Frequency Bone, via which he also conducts his online summer music camp.

In addition to his extensive performance and teaching career, Mr. Bolter is a prolific composer, winning him further acclaim both in the US and abroad. In addition to his own recordings of his works, Mr. Bolter's compositions have appeared on recordings by New York Philharmonic principal trombonist, Joseph Alessi; former Boston Symphony Orchestra principal trumpeter, Charles Schlueter; Boston Symphony Orchestra bass trombonist, Douglas Yeo; Boston Symphony Orchestra principal trombonist, Ronald Barron; Los Angeles Philharmonic co-principal trombonist, James

Miller; New Zealand Symphony Orchestra associate principal trombonist, Peter Maunder; Bala Brass Quintet; the New England Brass Band and others. Mr. Bolter's compositions are performed regularly throughout the world, including among the performers: Joseph Alessi, Darren Acosta, Ronald Barron, Scott Hartman, Randall Hawes, Peter Mauder, James Miller, Randall Montgomery, Philip Myers, James Nova, Mike Roylance, Richard Sebring, Charles Schlueter, James Sommerville, Charles Vernon, R. Douglas Wright, Douglas Yeo and Jacques Zoon.

Among the organizations and individuals who have commissioned Mr. Bolter's works are: Pro Arte Orchestra of Boston; Zellmer-Minnesota Orchestra Trombone Competition; New York Philharmonic principal trombonist, Joseph Alessi; Boston

Symphony Orchestra trumpeter, Peter Chapman, and tubist, Mike Roylance; the Online Trombone Journal; the University of St. Thomas; Bala Brass Quintet and others. In his numerous compositions (over 250 created to date), Mr. Bolter explores creating tangible atmospheres inspired by the natural worlds and the human story. His compositions have a broad range of instrumentation, including works for a variety of solo instruments (trombone, trumpet, tuba, horn, flute, didjeridoo, ram's horn, serpent and others), brass ensemble, trombone choir, concert band, brass band, mixed chamber ensemble and orchestra. Notably, Mr. Bolter has composed more music for the trombone than any other composer.

Recordings on Sony, Philips, Angel, Sine Qua Non, Crystal, Nonesuch, Deutsche Grammophon, Columbia, RCA, Telarc, CBS Masterworks, New World, Erato, Air-ev and others.

6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Dinner Break (meals not provided)

8pm: Performance by The Boston Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Conducted by Eric Hewitt featuring world premier concerto by soloists Blair Bollinger and the Triton Brass

The Triton Brass is a vital force in chamber music today, having made its mark as a performing ensemble dedicated to the presentation of new music at the highest level, as well as providing accessible concerts to communities and families.  Triton has been featured at National conferences including the NY Brass Conference, NERTEC (North Eastern Regional Tuba and Euphonium Conference) as well as the Berkshire Brass Festival hosted by Rolf Smedvig and the Empire Brass.    Recipients of numerous grants, Triton has toured the Midwest U.S. on a performance grant collaboration with the Fischoff National Chamber Music Association. Additionally, Triton has received compositional grants from Chamber Music America and the Barlow Endowment to work closely with Composers in Red Sneakers resident Lansing McCloskey.    Triton has made its mark upon the competition circuit as well. They are the winners of the Spedidam Award at the International Chamber Music Festival of Lyon, France, Silver medalists at the Fischoff Chamber Music Association, and Semi-Finalists of the Concert Artists Guild.    As performers and educators, Triton can be found on campuses of some of the world's finest universities and music festivals. Triton maintains residencies at Boston College and the Boston Conservatory and has been featured in residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As former faculty for the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Triton has been seen on stages alongside many world class musicians. For the last 7 years, Triton has been host to and faculty members for the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar.   Originating from all corners of the United States, the members of the Triton Brass have combined their talents into a dynamic and versatile ensemble. Triton's members are freelance musicians performing in a wide variety of settings. In Boston and New York City, members of Triton Brass perform with the Boston Symphony, The Boston Pops, Boston Ballet, Boston Philharmonic, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Ballet Theater, Opera Orchestra of New York, Vermont Symphony, New Hampshire Symphony, Portland Symphony as well as orchestra pits for Broadway shows. Triton gave its first public recital in 2001 and is proud that the same five individuals continue making music together today.

10:00 p.m.: Reception and closing concert featuring Michael Davis and friends!