I’ve been playing the trombone for 60 years. I started on the instrument when I was nine years old, in 1964, and while my end is nearer than my beginning, I never think of myself as “getting older.” Life is a steady rhythm of engaging activities, individual and shared activities, and the blessing of regularly being with family members and friends.
The International Trombone Association was founded in 1972 and I joined it in that same year. I was a senior in high school at the time and in those days, I ordered a lot of trombone music from Robert King Music Sales in North Easton, Massachusetts. Since I didn’t have a checking account at the time, I used to send cash or stamps to Robert King to pay for the music I ordered. That was a different time than today, for sure. In one order of music I received, a flyer about the newly formed International Trombone Association was enclosed, I joined right away (I probably sent cash or stamps for my first membership fee, too), and I’ve been a member ever since. I guess you could say I’m a founding member of the ITA. Over the last 52 years, I’ve been involved in the ITA in a lot of the ways. I’ve written dozens of articles for the ITA Journal, I’ve served on ITA committees (Governance Committee, Board of Advisors), I’ve been a guest artist at many International Trombone Festivals (held in Nashville, TN 1982, Potsdam NY 1999, Ithaca NY 2004, Columbus GA 2013, Redlands CA 2017, Iowa City 2018, Conway, AR 2022, and the upcoming ITF in Fort Worth, TX), and I’ve adjudicated many of the ITA’s annual competitions.
When it was founded in 1972, the International Trombone Association instituted an annual award, the ITA Award. It was given to one trombonist each year in recognition of “an elite level of creative and artistic activity.” The first recipient was Henry Romersa, founder of the International Trombone Workshop (now the International Trombone Festival). The list of recipients over the last 52 years reads like a who’s-who of notable trombonists including Lewis Van Haney (second trombonist of the New York Philharmonic and trombone professor at Indiana University, 1973), Robert King (1975), Thomas Everett (founder of the ITA, retired professor, Harvard University, 1980), George Roberts (the great Hollywood studio bass trombonist, 1983), the great jazz trombonists Urbie Green (1985) and J. J. Johnson (1988), my teacher, friend, and mentor, Edward Kleinhammer (bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, 1986), Christian Lindberg (1991) and Joseph Alessi (2002), bass trombonist Ben van Dijk (2003), my Boston Symphony Orchestra colleague Ronald Barron (2005), David Taylor (the great New York based bass trombonist, 2016), my “brother from another mother,” jazz giant Wycliffe Gordon, and Megumi Kanda (principal trombonist of the Milwaukee Symphony, 2020). All of these people have shaped my life; many are friends; others have been trombone heroes of mine.
Douglas Yeo and Ronald Barron, International Trombone Festival, Eastman School of Music, 2014
In 2014, I received the ITA Award and was inducted into this Pantheon of trombonists. It was a tremendous honor and I received it at the International Trombone Festival held at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. One of the things that made my receiving the ITA Award at that time was the fact that my friend and colleague from my years as a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Ronald Barron, received the ITA’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the same time.
The ITA’s Lifetime Achievement Award was one of several awards established by the ITA several years after its founding in order to give recognition to deserving individuals. The first of these new awards was the Neill Humfeld Award for Excellence in Trombone Teaching, established in 1997 (the 2024 recipient of the Neill Humfeld Award is Abbie Conant; the 2024 recipient of the ITA Award is John Fedchock). The Neill Humfeld Award was followed by the Lifetime Achievement Award (established in 2007 to recognize individuals “who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to the trombone profession over a long career”), and the Legacy Circle Award (also established in 2007 and usually recognizes deceased individuals “who have made a profound and lasting impact on the evolution of trombone playing or teaching”). Among recipients of the Legacy Circle Award are Arthur Pryor, Emory Remington, Jack Teagarden, Al Grey, Russell Moore, Bill Watrous, Keith Brown, Joannès Rochut, Lillian Briggs, and Dorothy Ziegler). The 2024 recipient of the ITA Legacy Circle award is John Swallow who was a member of the New York Brass Quintet for many years and with whom I taught alongside at New England Conservatory of Music.
Last week, I was informed that I have been selected to be a 2024 recipient of the International Trombone Association’s Lifetime Achivement Award. My friend, trombonist Benny Sluchin, was also named a recipient of the ITA’s Lifetime Achivement Award and we will accept our awards at the upcoming International Trombone Festival at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. It is a very special feeling to be recognized by ones’ peers for accomplishments over a lifetime. And it will be very special to accept the Award at TCU, where David Begnoche—who was a student at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when I was teaching there—is trombone professor and host of the Festival, and my friend Ronald Barron and I will play a duet with the TCU trombone choir. Other connections abound: David Yacus, who studied bass trombone with me at New England Conservatory of Music and is now one of the leading sackbut players in the world, will be performing at the Festival. So will my good friend and fellow ITA Award recipient David Taylor. Benny Sluchin has been so helpful to me in various research projects, including my upcoming presentation at the ITF about Joannès Rochut (the presentation is the basis for an article about Rochut that I am writing for the ITA Journal that will be published in early 2025). Benny lives in Paris and we don’t get to see each other very often, so it will be great to see him at the Festival.
Announcement of the International Trombone Association 2024 Lifetime Achivement Award recipients (ITA Facebook page)
I’m very grateful to be recognized in this way—it is not lost on me that I am one of only a few individuals to have received both the ITA Award and the ITA’s Lifetime Achivement Award, a group that includes Edward Kleinhammer, George Roberts, and Ronald Barron—but, in fact, I would not be receiving this award were it not for the hundreds and hundreds of friends, colleagues, and teachers whose lives have intersected with mine. I am a blessed man to have worked, talked, and interacted with so many engaging artists/musicians/trombonists since I started playing the trombone 60 years ago. My students at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, New Jersey, Peabody Institute in Baltimore, at New England Conservatory of Music, Arizona State University, Wheaton College, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have also made a profound impact on me. In a sense, the names of all of these individuals are pencilled in on my Lifetime Achievement Award certificate because without them, I would not be who I am today, I would not have lived the life I have lived, and I certainly would not have made the contributions to the world of the trombone were it not for them informing, encouraging, and challenging me. I say the same for my family, my wife of 49 years, Patricia, our daughters and sons-in-law, and our grandchildren. They have been supportive, patient, caring, and loving through all of my activities. I thank God for all of you.
If you’re going to be at the International Trombone Festival at TCU next month, I look forward to seeing you there. Four days of all trombone, all the time. Sounds pretty good to me!
Biography of Douglas Yeo from the International Trombone Association website, April 2024. In the photo that accompanies this bio and the ITA Facebook announcement of 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, I am holding a buccin (dragon bell trombone, made in the 19th century) during a recital I gave at the Hamamatsu (Japan) Museum of Musical Instruments. The International Trombone Association adopted the buccin as its logo, based on a buccin owned by New England Conservatory of Music.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has recently made two important, happy announcements that I’d like to share with readers of The Last Trombone.
I have been serving as trombone professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for the last two years, since August 2022. At that time, the UIUC School of Music was in need of a trombone professor when its previous full time trombone professor abruptly resigned in May 2022. I was happy to accept the offer to take on this work while the School of Music conducted a search for a new full time trombone professor. Unfortunately, the search that was held during the 2022-2023 academic year was not successful in hiring a new trombone professor so a new search was mounted in fall 2023. In light of this, I agreed to return for a second year. Today, Dr. Linda Moorhouse, Director of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music announced that Dr. Jonathan Whitaker has been named professor of trombone at UIUC effective August 2024.
I have known Jonathan Whitaker for many years and I am delighted that events have come together to bring him to University of Illinois. Dr. Whitaker’s work at University of Alabama—where he has been professor of trombone since 2009—is well known. He has a proven track record in building and growing the Alabama trombone studio, and his students have experienced remarkable success over the years. Here is something about Dr. Jonathan Whitaker, from the announcement by Dr. Linda Moorhouse:
Jonathan Whitaker joined the faculty of the University of Alabama in the fall of 2009. At Alabama, Dr. Whitaker’s students have been tremendously successful in national and international solo competitions as well as being placed in some of the nation’s top summer music festivals. The University of Alabama Trombone Choir has given performances at the 2010 Eastern Trombone Workshop, the 2011 International Trombone Festival, the 2013 International Trombone Festival, and the 2018 American Trombone Workshop. Dr. Whitaker has also appeared twice as a performer and clinician at the American Trombone Workshop and two International Trombone Festivals. Dr. Whitaker is in great demand as a guest artist and has appeared at some of the most prestigious music schools in the country including The Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, Yale University, Indiana University, and many more.
As a soloist, Dr. Whitaker can be heard on numerous recordings including the 2018 release of his second solo recording entitled “Paceline” and his debut solo recording entitled “Nature’s Gift” with pianist Kevin Chance. He is a featured soloist on two recordings with the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble that include Anthony Barfield’s Red Sky and David Maslanka’s Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble. These recordings are available at jonathanwhitaker.com.
Dr. Whitaker has been very active in commissioning new works for the trombone. In 2019, he gave the world premiere of Scott McAllister’s Atipa-Tcoba at the 2020 American Bandmasters Association Convention with the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble. Other notable commissions and premieres include Nicola Ferro’s Mega for solo trombone and wind ensemble (2016) and Jim Stephenson’s Three Bones Concerto (2013), commissioned for the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble along with Joseph Alessi and Peter Ellefson. He also performed the work at the 2013 Eastern Trombone Workshop with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He is also responsible for the commissioning of Eric Ewazen’s Visions of Light, as well as several other compositions including music for trombone and piano, unaccompanied trombone and trombone choir. Dr. Whitaker also is the author of the trombone version of the popular method, The Brass Gym, and has several published arrangements with Alessi Publications.
In 2012, Dr. Whitaker made his Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist at the New York Wind Band Festival. He has appeared as a soloist with all the wind groups at Indiana University, the Augustana College Symphonic Band, the Purdue University Symphony Orchestra, the Henderson State University Wind Ensemble and performed a premier performance of John Mackey’s Harvest: Concerto for Trombone with the University of Alabama Wind Ensemble in the fall of 2010. He also performed the American premier of Johan de Meij’s T-Bone Concerto with the Murray State University Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
Dr. Whitaker has performed with the New York Philharmonic on three separate occasions including the orchestra’s 2012 Opening Gala that was broadcast on Live from Lincoln Center on PBS with music director Alan Gilbert. He is currently Principal Trombone of the Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Whitaker performs regularly with the Alabama Symphony and has also held positions with the Harrisburg Symphony (PA), Mobile Symphony (AL), Arkansas Symphony, Pine Bluff Symphony (AR), Shreveport Symphony (LA), South Arkansas Symphony, Duluth-Superior Symphony (MN), Owensboro Symphony (KY), Evansville Philharmonic (IN), Richmond Symphony (IN), Jackson Symphony (TN), and the Paducah Symphony (KY).
Dr. Whitaker holds degrees in trombone performance from Murray State University (BMUS) and the University of Minnesota (MMUS), and the Doctor of Music in Brass Pedagogy from Indiana University. Dr. Whitaker’s primary teachers include Ray Conklin, Tom Ashworth, M. Dee Stewart, Peter Ellefson, and Joseph Alessi with additional studies with Arnold Jacobs, Edward Kleinhammer, Michael Mulcahy, Charlie Vernon, and Douglas Wright.
Jonathan Whitaker is a Getzen Artist and performs on Griego Mouthpieces.
We look forward to welcoming Dr. Whitaker to campus this summer. After UIUC’s School of Music Convocation on May 12, I will clean out my office and head home. While one never knows what may happen in the future, I will be closing the door on over 40 years of teaching on the college level. I have greatly enjoyed this teaching work over the years, and I’ve been blessed to work with many talented students who have gone on to do great things to impact our world, in musical and other ways. But at this season of life, I look forward to having more time to devote to activities with my family, and to spend more time researching and writing. That said, I will always be grateful for these two years at University of Illinois. Readers of The Last Trombone know how I have enjoyed that tremendous campus community. I look forward to continuing to celebrate the activities and accomplishments of the students at the University of Illinois trombone studio and I’m absolutely delighted to be handing the keys to the office off to Dr. Jonathan Whitaker. If you are a trombonist looking for a college education at a place where you can be part of a vibrant community with a superb trombone teacher, I urge you to consider applying to the University of Illinois School of Music. With Dr. Whitaker at the helm of the UIUC trombone studio, his big plans will be announced soon and exciting days are ahead for trombone students at Illinois.
And speaking of trombone students at University of Illinois, we have recently announced that the recipient of the 2023–2024 Robert E. Gray Trombone Award is junior tenor trombone music education major Ethan Groharing.
Ethan Groharing, recipient of the University of Illinois 2023–2024 Robert E. Gray Award
Dr. Robert E. Gray was professor of trombone at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 1955–1991 and upon his retirement, the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award was established thanks to the generosity of the Gray family, many of Dr. Gray’s former students, and friends of the Illinois trombone studio. The award has been given each year since 1993 to a trombone student at Illinois who embodies the ideals of Dr. Gray—who was a transformative educator, a fine trombonist, founder of the University of Illinois Wind Ensemble, and President of the International Trombone Association— as exemplified in his words:
Take your time in your work. Don’t always push and do what is expedient. Develop an understanding of life and humanity in your degree work. It will make you a better person.
Last year, the award was given to Poorna Kumar, a sophomore (now a junior) tenor trombone performance/community health double major who has served as a drum major for the Marching Illini (University of Illinois’ marching band) for the last two years. I wrote about Poorna, her accomplishments, and her receiving the 2022–2023 Robert E. Gray Trombone Award HERE.
Ethan Groharing, recipient of the University of Illinois 2023–2024 Robert E. Gray Trombone Award
This year’s recipient, Ethan Groharing, has distinguished himself in a number of ways. For 2023–2024, he served as trombone section leader for the Marching Illini. In addition to continued improvement as a trombonist (this semester he is playing both in the UIUC Symphony Orchestra and Wind Symphony), he has served in leadership roles in the band fraternity, Kappa Kappa Psi. Of particular note is Ethan’s recent involvement to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Good mental health is important for everyone, and last year, Ethan worked to raise $500 for the Foundation, which he did. This year, he set the goal higher and he exceeded it, raising $2,000 for this important cause through Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. As part of his fundraising effort, Ethan said he would dye his hair green if he made his goal, since green is the color of the mental health awareness ribbon. Ethan powered past his goal and he made good on his promise to dye his hair, something made us on campus smile and also raised even more awareness for this cause that is so important to him. In addition to a cash award, the Robert E. Gray Award now includes the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award medal that Ethan and other recipients can wear at graduation, and his name is now inscribed on a plaque in the University of Illinois trombone studio along with the names of previous recipients of the award.
Here we have two new things to celebrate at University of Illinois: the appointment of our new trombone professor, Dr. Jonathan Whitaker, and the awarding of the 2023–2024 Robert E. Gray Trombone Award to Ethan Groharing. I’m happy to share this news with readers of The Last Trombone as we look forward to finishing out the current school year in a few weeks and turning the page to an exciting new future for trombones at University of Illinois.
Since the book hit the market, it has received generous reviews and I’ve been heartened knowing that so many individuals and libraries have purchased the book. Here’s a sample of recent reviews:
To simply list all of the topics in this dictionary is not practical; however, suffice it to say that if a topic is not covered in this dictionary, it might not be worthy of investigation. . . Lennie Peterson’s illustrations are engaging and accurate. . . This is an excellent first step for reference or research. There are exhaustive references to outside sources for further study and the 13-page bibliography is perhaps the most comprehensive resource available. This is one of the books that should be on every teacher’s shelf and in every academic library. ~ International Trombone Association (2022)
This new resource is accessible to both beginning and experienced players and is thorough in its hundreds of listings, ranging from “a piacere” to “zugposaune.” . . I am thrilled to add this resource to my collection. I believe that it is a mandatory addition to the library of any low brass player and will be invaluable to any performer, educator, or student who is interested in taking a deep dive into the history and development of the tuba, euphonium or trombone. ~ International Tuba Euphonium Association Journal (2022)
Excellent illustrations created by Lennie Peterson, an award-winning artist and educator and a professional trombonist, enhance many entries. All in all, a fine overview of low brass instruments that will be valuable to novices and professionals alike. Summing up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals; general readers. ~ Choice, the Journal for the Association of College and Research Libraries (2022)
Of all the people that could have been chosen for the task of creating a dictionary for the modern lowbrass player, Yeo is perhaps the most appropriate to undertake such a project. As a performer – having served as bass trombonist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra for nearly 30 years – and pedagogue – having held faculty positions at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Arizona State University, and Wheaton College – his name is recognized and respected in the world of modern low brass. Additionally, he is a well-known champion for and practitioner of historical low brass instruments, which, with his practiced eye and knowledge of the history of these instruments, serves the dictionary and its readers well. His interest and yearning for knowledge are clearly the driving forces behind the volume’s success, making it an invaluable resource for any modern low-brass practitioners, students and teachers, amateurs and professionals. ~ Galpin Society Journal (2022)
[This book] offers an absorbing and comprehensive view of our instruments and their craft and lore. . . it is about the present-day instruments and their immediate past, but their predecessors are in here too and are treated respectfully and sympathetically. Douglas Yeo’s definitions and explanations are clear and concise, and the drawings by Lennie Peterson are elegant and surprisingly instructive. ~ Historic Brass Today (2023)
Here is a sample page from the book, with a few of the over 130 illustrations by my friend, Lennie Peterson:
An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player by Douglas Yeo. Page 18 (part of the entry for bass trombone with illustrations by Lennie Peterson).
While I have been delighted with the reception to my Dictionary, it was initially released as a hard cover book with a price point that was higher than I hoped it would be. The price for the hard cover edition, $105, was set by the publisher, and with many people purchasing the book as a textbook, the price wasn’t out of line with a lot of similar texts. Still, I wished the price had been lower. I’d rather sell more copies of my books at a lower price than fewer copies at a higher price—for me, it’s about the ideas I’m putting out for people, not my royalty check.
So I was especially happy when, last year, my editor at Rowman & Littlefield told me that my Dictionary had been selected by the publisher to be reprinted in a paperback edition at a much lower price point. I was also very pleased when my editor told me that printing the book in a paperback edition meant I could make a few changes and corrections to my original text.
I’m glad to announce that the paperback edition of my An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player is now available. The price is $50, half of the hard cover $105 price. You can purchase the hard cover ($105.00), the paperback ($50.00), and the Kindle edition ($47.50) on amazon.com.
But if you’d like to purchase the Dictionary for less, go to the page about my book on the Rowman & Littlefield website, HERE.
Once there, you can order the Dictionary, and when you check out, apply this discount code:
RLFANDF30
Doing so will give you a 30% discount on the book, bringing the cost of the paperback edition down to $35.00. That’s a savings I want readers to know about.
And I want to thank all readers who now have the book in their library. My Dictionary was a labor of love, and it makes me very happy to know that so many people are now exploring the same subjects I cover in the book that have fascinated me for so many years.
Seiji Ozawa hired me into the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1985. At age 29, I joined the BSO for a career that extended until 2012, 27 years of memorable music making and other wonderful experiences. Seiji was music director of the BSO from 1973 to 2002, and his death brings back unforgettable memories of the intersection of our lives. Here is the Seiji Ozawa I knew and will always remember.
Wheaton College Artist Series program, Boston Symphony Orchestra, April 10, 1975
I first met Seiji Ozawa in April 1975 while I was a student at Wheaton College, Illinois. The college had an artist series of eight concerts each year and the Boston Symphony Orchestra came to give a performance in Edman Memorial Chapel. I had been tapped to be student manager of the artist series for my senior year at Wheaton, 1975-1976, so, being groomed for that position the season before, I had backstage access to the BSO concert. I was wowed that I got to see and hear the Boston Symphony Orchestra up close. Even though I was studying trombone with Edward Kleinhammer, the great bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1940-1985, and the CSO was front and center in my orchestral universe, I had always loved the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In fact, in my high school yearbook (1973), in that pretentious paragraph seniors get to write about themselves with our favorite inspirational quotations and our hopes and dreams for the future, I wrote, “I want to play in the Boston Symphony Orchestra.”
Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording of Janéček Sinfonietta and Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra with Seiji Ozawa, conductor. Angel S-36045; recorded 1970.
I met the orchestra’s trombone section: William Gibson, Ronald Barron, and Gordon Hallberg. And I met Seiji Ozawa. I brought a record for him to autograph which he graciously did (above). Today I look back and shake my head: I asked him to sign a recording he made with the Chicago Symphony (Seiji had been music director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the CSO), not the Boston Symphony! But he was kind to sign the record jacket for me and I still have that LP; it is a treasure. At the concert, held the door to the stage open a little bit when the BSO’s principal trumpet player, Armando Ghitalla, played the offstage trumpet solo to Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3. The whole experience was unforgettable. Little did I know that 10 years later, I would be sitting on stage with many of those same Boston Symphony players with Seiji conducting me.
Advertisement in the International Musician for the Boston Symphony Orchestra bass trombone position, 1984.
After graduation from Wheaton College in 1976, my wife and I moved to New York City where she completed her nursing degree at Columbia University and I freelanced, worked a secretarial job to pay the bills, and got my master’s degree at New York University. After two years as a high school band director from 1979-1981, I joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. And it was at intermission of a Baltimore Symphony rehearsal in 1983 that Joseph Silverstein, who, at that time, was both concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Baltimore Symphony, came up to me at the break in a rehearsal. He said he liked my playing, and he wanted me to know that the Boston Symphony Orchestra would be having an audition for a bass trombonist. Soon. Sure enough, a few months later, the International Musician, the monthly publication of the American Federation of Musicians, ran an advertisement for the position (above). Of course I had to take that audition. I was very happy in the Baltimore Symphony, but the Boston Symphony? Boston?? I got ready for the audition.
I submitted my resume and a few weeks later, I was asked to make a pre-screening audition tape. I had taken a number of auditions by that time and this was the first time I was asked to make a pre-screening tape. So I did. You can hear my Boston Symphony audition tape HERE. I did not find out until many months later that the orchestra had received 88 pre-screen tapes for the audition and they had accepted only one: mine. Joining me at the audition were about a dozen other fine bass trombonists who had positions in other major American symphony orchestras. They were invited directly to the live rounds of the audition without having to make a pre-screening tape.
Boston Symphony Orchestra low brass section, Mahler Symphony No. 2, Tanglewood, August 1984. Ronald Barron, Norman Bolter, Lamar Jones, Douglas Yeo, Chester Schmitz (tuba).
The audition was held in Spring 1984 and at the end of the day, I was the last candidate standing. But I was not offered the position. Seiji told me he liked my playing very much but he would like me to make some small changes to my sound and approach. There would be another audition later in the year but in the meantime, he asked me to come to Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to play two weeks of concerts, then go to Europe with the BSO for three weeks, and then return to Boston to make a recording of Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote with Yo-Yo Ma as soloist. I was thrilled to accept the offer of weeks to play with the BSO. Those weeks at Tanglewood, in Europe, and in Boston were unforgettable. Symphony No. 2 of Gustav Mahler with Jessye Norman as soloist, Don Quixote and the Dvorak Cello Concerto with Yo-Yo. Dvorak Symphony No. 9 and Shostakovich Symphony No. 10, and more.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, conducting. Performance of Shostakovich Symphony No. 10, Berlin Philharmonie, September 1984. Trombones in the back row, right, are Ronald Barron, Carl Lenthe (substitute), Douglas Yeo, bass.
I returned home to Baltimore and at a second audition in December 1984, I won the bass trombone position with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and began my tenure there in May 1985.
Thus began my remarkable adventure as a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was electrifying to sit under Seiji’s baton. Yes, we all called him Seiji. Not maestro, not Mr. Ozawa. Seiji saw the BSO as a family. He cared deeply about the orchestra, the institution, its history, and its members. Seiji was so much more than a superb musician. He cared. He cared so much about so many things. And he loved Boston. Unlike so many music directors today, Seiji was deeply involved in the city of Boston, and Tanglewood was his happy place.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa conducting. Program for opening night at Tanglewood, June 28, 1985.
My first opening night concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra was at Tanglewood, June 28, 1985. Seiji conducted an all-Beethoven program. It was a memorable start to my years with the BSO, playing what is arguably the most famous symphony ever written, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.
Boston Symphony Orchestra 1985–1986 season brochure.
The 1985–1986 season was my first full season with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was like a dream come true. The conductors: Seiji, Bernard Haitink, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, Pierre Boulez, Jeffrey Tate, Leonard Slatkin. The soloists: Maurice André, Itzhak Perlman, Viktoria Mullova, Alicia de Larrocha, Maurizio Pollini, André Watts, Hildegard Behrens, Gilbert Kalish. The repertoire: Brahms Symphonies 1 and 4, Shostakovich Symphony 8, Mahler Symphony 3 and 7; the list goes on. And it was like that every year, with Seiji headlining the season.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa conducting. Program for opening night at Symphony Hall, October 1, 1985.
Opening night at Symphony in 1985, my first Symphony Hall opening night, featured Don Juan by Richard Strauss, Brahms’ Symphony 1, and with trumpet soloist Maurice André. I had played the Brahms Symphony with the BSO earlier that year at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein (I wrote about that experience HERE). Now I was playing it in the glorious acoustics of Boston’s Symphony Hall. Then there was Maurice André, a remarkable trumpet player. When I was a student at Wheaton College, he came to the college Artist Series and played a spectacular, memorable recital. Now I was up close, sitting in Symphony Hall to hear him in rehearsal (there were no trombones called for in his solo pieces).
Boston Symphony Orchestra brass section, Seiji Ozawa (center), conductor. Tanglewood, Summer 1987. Trombones: Ronald Barron, Norman Bolter, Douglas Yeo.
Symphony Hall. That proud temple of music in Boston, built in 1900, considered to be acoustically perfect, and one of the three greatest concert halls in the world along with Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Seiji reveled in Symphony Hall. Its warmth fit the Boston Symphony Orchestra like a glove. The BSO could deliver power when called for. But it was the elegance of the orchestra for which it was known. Seiji brought out that elegance like no other conductor. When he conducted, Seiji was poetry—he was ballet—in motion. He had no self-serving, extraneous motions. His body communicated the essence of the music and we in the orchestra knew exactly how to respond.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa, music director. Symphony Hall, Boston, May 1988.
Seiji Ozawa was a truly great artist, musician, conductor. We all knew it; the world knew it. But for me, his musical persona was secondary to the fact that he was a genuine, caring human being. He loved the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its players. He showed this over and over. I had many personal encounters with Seiji, memorable moments that are frozen in time, so indelibly imprinted in my mind. One of the most significant is from the summer of 1989 when my oldest daughter, Linda, and I were in a horrific car accident at Tanglewood (a fuel oil truck sped through a red light and hit us broadside; we never saw it coming). Linda and I were taken by ambulance to the hospital; she was seriously injured and was in a coma. At first it was touch and go whether or not Linda would live but we prayed and prayed and prayed. The day after the accident, Seiji came to the hospital to visit our family. He had no entourage; he came without an announcement. He didn’t come as my boss, as “Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.” There were no cameras or microphones around. He came as the father of two children of his own who was visiting a friend whose daughter was profoundly injured. Seiji and I hugged and cried. We walked into the intensive care unit together to see Linda; Seiji was shaken. Fortunately, God gave us a miracle and Linda recovered—today she is a fine bass trombonist and music teacher, and the mother of our grandchildren—to see her now is a testament to God’s mercy, grace, and healing power. And Seiji’s visit—a visit that came with no fanfare—remains in my mind as I remember him as not only a great musician, but as a caring person.
I also remember many conversations I had with Seiji about God and faith. When we met and spoke in private, he opened up about many things. Seiji’s mother was a Christian; his father was Buddhist. In a conversation, he told me that the first Western music he ever heard was his mother singing to him, in English, the old African-American spiritual, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus.” When asked in an interview what he thought was the most important piece of classical music ever written, Seiji said—without hesitation—”The Bach Saint Matthew Passion.” When he retired from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2002, I gave Seiji a book of memories of our time together along with a New Testament Bible in Japanese. He received the gift with gratitude and grace.
Douglas Yeo and Seiji Ozawa, Boston Symphony Orchestra Japan tour, 1989.
When the BSO was on tour, Seiji always threw a party for the orchestra. Nowhere were these parties more lavish and fun than when we toured Japan. There, Seiji was truly in his element, his comfort zone, so happy to be showing off his orchestra to his country, and so engaged with all of the orchestra’s players. The photo above shows Seiji and me at a party on a tour of Japan in 1989, one of those memorable times when, without instruments or batons in our hands, Seiji’s fun side came out.
Keith Lockhart and Seiji Ozawa with R. Douglas Wright and Douglas Yeo. February 6, 1995.
This is one of my favorite photos of Seiji, above. Keith Lockhart was named conductor of the Boston Pops in February 1995. That day, during a rehearsal at Symphony Hall, Keith and Seiji walked behind the back row of brass players and parked themselves behind R. Douglas Wright and me. Doug, who is currently principal trombonist of the Minnesota Orchestra, was the BSO’s and Boston Pops’ regular substitute player for many years, and we laughed when this photo appeared in the Boston Globe on February 7, 1996 with the caption, “New Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (rear left, with Boston Symphony Orchestra music director Seiji Ozawa) will also direct the BSO’s youth concerts. ‘I can’t wait to get started,’ he said.” Somehow that caption never felt adequate for the expressions on Keith and Seiji’s faces. Caption contest, anyone?
Seiji Ozawa with extra trumpet players for a performance of Respighi’s Pines of Rome, Tokyo Forum, May 1999. Our daughter, Robin, is standing tall, third from right.
Seiji had more interactions with my family. In Spring 1999, I brought our youngest daughter, Robin, on the BSO’s Japan tour. For this tour, the BSO gave a concert in the Tokyo Forum on a national holiday, “Children’s Day.” As part of the concert, a group of Japanese school children who played trumpet and trombone were selected to play the additional brass parts for Respighi’s Pines of Rome. Since Robin was a fine trumpet player (first chair trumpet in Massachusetts All-State Orchestra and other groups), Seiji agreed to let Robin play with the group of school children at the Tokyo concert. The photo above shows Seiji coming in for a rehearsal in Tokyo with the Japanese students, Robin towering over the other players, trumpet in hand.
Members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra with extra players, performing the National Anthem at a New England Patriots game, Foxborough Stadium, Massachusetts, fall 1999. Trombone section: Ronald Barron, Darren Acosta, Douglas Yeo. Our daughter, Robin, can be seen just to the right of Seiji Ozawa.
Seiji was an avid sports fan who was deeply invested in Boston sports. Particularly the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Our Boston Symphony brass section played the National Anthem at many Patriots and Red Sox games, and for one Patriots game at the old Foxborough Stadium in 1999, we were in need of another trumpet player and Robin was asked to play with us. It was a thrill for me to stand on the 50-yard line and play the National Anthem with Seiji conducting and Robin just a few feet away from me.
Seiji Ozawa and Douglas Yeo, Foxborough Stadium, Massachusetts, fall 1999.
In 1994, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave the United States and Asian premieres of a newly discovered work by Hector Berlioz, his Messe solennelle. When I looked at the score for the piece, I noticed there was a prominent solo for serpent. I had seen serpents in museums and the Boston Symphony had several serpents in its historical instrument collection. I thought to myself, “I think I’d like to play serpent on the Berlioz Messe.” Having never held a serpent in my hand before and with no idea what I was getting into, I purchased an instrument, learned how to play it, auditioned it for Seiji, and he was thrilled. He’d never heard a serpent before and he was intrigued by the instrument and its sound. Before a rehearsal, I gave Seiji a serpent t-shirt and he immediately pulled off his shirt and put on the t-shirt for the rehearsal. This was classic Seiji: inquisitive, always wanting to learn, and having fun in the process. Seiji gave me a chance with the serpent and since that time, I have played serpent on many concerts with the BSO and other orchestras, given serpent recitals, made a serpent CD and DVD, and enjoyed numerous forays into the “early music” movement because of the serpent. And it all started with Seiji giving the serpent and me a chance.
Seiji Ozawa and Douglas Yeo, Symphony Hall, Boston, Fall 1994.
(1985–2002)A sample of recordings made by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa, 1985–2002.
During the years that Seiji’s and my tenures at the Boston Symphony overlapped (1985–2002), we made many recordings together. These included all of the Mahler symphonies except Symphony No. 8 (recorded before I came to the BSO) and Symphony No. 4 (which does not include trombones), concertos with Yo-Yo Ma, Krystian Zimerman, Mstislav Rostropovich, and others, operas, the Concerto for Orchestra and Miraculous Mandarin by Bartok, and much more. That recorded legacy that I shared with Seiji and the Boston Symphony is something I cherish, and it is an ongoing reminder of the remarkable collaborations we shared together. Here’s a list of the recordings I made with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra:
Twentieth Century Bach [arrangements of music by J.S. Bach by Stravinsky, Webern, Stokowski, Schönberg, Saito] (Philips/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra and The Miraculous Mandarin [complete ballet] (Philips/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)
Bartok: Concerto for Violin No. 2 (DGG/Mutter/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)
Seiji’s last concert in Symphony Hall as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra was on April 20, 2022. By then he had been music director for 29 years. He was ready for a change but it was difficult for me to say goodbye to this man who meant so much to so many of us for so long.
Cover of the NHK DVD featuring two works performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa. Beethoven Symphony No. 7 (Suntory Hall Tokyo, 1989) and Mahler Symphony No. 9 (2002). NHK DVD NSDS-14717; NHK Blu-ray NSBB-14721.
Seiji’s last concert in Symphony Hall as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra had a single work on the program: Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. We had recorded and performed this piece with Seiji on numerous occasions. And it seemed a fitting piece for us to play together as he closed his tenure as music director of the BSO. NHK (Japan) filmed the concert and later released it on a DVD and Blu-ray along with a 1989 performance of the BSO playing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. I am so glad to have this document of the concert.
Boston Symphony Orchestra program for Seiji Ozawa’s final concerts with the orchestra, November 28 and 29, 2008. Symphony Hall, Boston.
The concert was emotional on so many levels. But, fortunately, we had not really said goodbye to Seiji. In 2006 , he returned for a concert at Tanglewood (a performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2), and in 2008, he returned once again to Symphony Hall for concerts that included Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz. The Symphonie was one of Seiji’s “party pieces,” a piece we played more times than I can count at home and on tour, and a piece that he and the orchestra did exceptionally well. The NHK DVD of Seiji’s final concert as music director of the BSO in 2002 also included a segment about his return to Symphony Hall in November 2008. The DVD contains some video of the rehearsals and concerts from that memorable occasion, as well as interviews by Seiji and a few BSO members, including me.
Douglas Yeo interview segment for NHK DVD/Blu-ray of Mahler Symphony No. 9, Beethoven Symphony No. 7, and a special segment on Seiji Ozawa’s return to Symphony Hall in November 2008.
I was so happy to be asked to say a few words on camera about Seiji and what he meant to both the orchestra and to me. Here’s some of what I said:
I think Seiji has such a way of communicating the music with musicians. Now, there’s a combination of his being older and even deeper as a musician, and the musicians of the Boston Symphony trusting him even more. He comes back now as, sort of, like our grandfather, like a hero to us because we had so many years with him. Now we have Seiji come back to remind us of those many years of great performances. And I have to say, for me personally, it is very, very exciting.
It was exciting. It was always exciting. The video (below) produced by WCVB-TV (Channel 5) in Boston when Seiji returned to Symphony Hall in 2008 shows some of the excitement we all experienced with Seiji on the podium.
Television segment produced by WCVB-TV Channel 5, Boston, on the occasion of Seiji Ozawa’s return to Symphony Hall, November 2008.
Here is the message that Seiji had for Boston Symphony audiences, from the program book for his final concerts in Symphony Hall as music director of the BSO, April 18, 19, 20, 2002.
Message from Seiji Ozawa, from the Boston Symphony Orchestra program book for April 18, 19, 20, 2002.
Seiji Ozawa was music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 29 years, from 1973 to 2002. He hired me into the Boston Symphony in 1985 and became one of my musical inspirations as well as a friend. The photo below was taken by my friend, Michael Lutch, at Seiji’s final concert in Symphony Hall as music director of the BSO, on April 20, 2002. This was at the end of our performance of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9. Seiji was exhausted; emotionally spent. Yet, this is how I will always remember Seiji. His smile, his engagement with the orchestra and the audience, and his commitment to the art of music are things I will never forget. Working with Seiji Ozawa changed my life and I will always be grateful for how God brought our lives together. I miss him, but I will never forget him.
Biography of Douglas Yeo from the International Trombone Association website, April 2024. In the photo that accompanies this bio and the ITA Facebook announcement of 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, I am holding a buccin (dragon bell trombone, made in the 19th century) during a recital I gave at the Hamamatsu (Japan) Museum of Musical Instruments. The International Trombone Association adopted the buccin as its logo, based on a buccin owned by New England Conservatory of Music.
The Last Trombone – Douglas Yeo 