Category: musical instruments

Remembering Seiji Ozawa (1935–2024)

by Douglas Yeo (February 12, 2024)

Last Friday, I arrived at my office at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at 7:00 am to get ready for a full day of teaching. As is my habit before taking out my trombone and warming up, I opened my laptop, quickly checked my email, and scanned the morning’s news headlines where I read an announcement that conductor Seiji Ozawa had died on Tuesday, February 6, at the age of 88.

I burst into tears and cried like a baby.

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)

Berlioz: Cléopâtre (Decca/Norman/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Berlioz: Requiem (RCA Victor/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Britten: Young People’s Guide to the Orchestra (Fun House/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Britten: Les illuminations (Philips/McNair/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Britten: Diversions (SONY/Fleisher/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Debussy: La Damoiselle élue (Philips/McNair/Graham/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Dutilleux: The Shadows of Time (Erato/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Dvorak: Cello Concerto (Erato/Rostropovich/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Dvorak: Dvorak in Prague (Sony/Ma/Perlman/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Faure: Requiem (DGG/Bonney/Hakegard/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Faure: Pelléas et Mélisande, Dolly (DGG/Hunt/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Franck: Symphony in d (DG/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Gubaidulina: Offertorium (DGG/Kremer/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 and No. 2, Totentanz (DGG/Zimerman/Boston                                     Symphony/Ozawa)

Mahler: Symphonies 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 (Philips/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (DGG/Battle/von Stade/Densch/Boston                         Symphony/Ozawa)

Poulenc: Gloria, Stabat Mater (DGG/Battle/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet [complete ballet] (DGG/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Prokofiev: Concerto for the left hand (SONY/Fleisher/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 1 and No. 2 (DGG/Zimerman/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (RCA/Kissin/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Ravel: Concerto for Piano in D for the left hand (SONY/Fleisher/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Ravel: Shéherazade (Philips/McNair/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Sibelius: Violin Concerto (Philips/Mullova/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Strauss: Elektra [playing bass trumpet] (Philips/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Strauss: Don Quixote (CBS/Ma/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Tchaikowsky: Nutcracker [complete ballet] (DGG/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Tchaikowsky: Pique Dame (RCA-BMG Classics/Boston Symphony/Ozawa)

Tchaikowsky: Symphony 6 (Erato/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.

Seiji Ozawa leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in his final concert in Symphony Hall as Music Director of the BSO, April 20, 2002. Photo © Michael Lutch. Used with permission.

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.

Seiji Ozawa taking a bow with the Boston Symphony Orchestra after his final concert in Symphony Hall as Music Director of the BSO, April 20, 2002. Photo © Michael Lutch. Used with permission.

A radio show and the serpent (the instrument, not a snake)

by Douglas Yeo (December 13, 2023)

Readers of TheLastTrombone will remember that in May/June 2023, I traveled to Arizona State University to take part in the 50th Anniversary International Tuba Euphonium Conference. The conference, sponsored every other year by the International Tuba Euphonium Association, was hosted by my good friend, Deanna Swoboda, tuba professor at ASU. While there, I gave a presentation about the Native American Sousaphone player John Kuhn and I also played a recital of music that featured that most unusual of musical instruments, the serpent.

Finding a practice room at a conference can be challenging, so I warmed up before my recital outside the Arizona State University music building. Photo by Tom Hentschel.

The serpent is an instrument that needs to be both seen and heard to be understood. I’ve written about it before on TheLastTrombone, in First Music Monday with the serpent (January 4, 2017), Residency at Bowling Green State University: serpent, trombone and a face cake (April 8, 2017), and Reformation: Luther, Mendelssohn, and the serpent (November 11, 2017), in addition to the article I wrote in anticipation of the 2023 International Tuba Euphonium Conference, Entering the tuba/euphonium universe: ITEC 2023.

Douglas Yeo, serpent, in performance with pianist Susan Wass, piano. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University. Photo by Tom Hentschel.

The ITEC serpent concert was a happy success thanks to the collaborative artists who worked with me on the program. Our concert included two works for serpent and piano on which Susan Wass accompanied me on piano, and two works for a small chamber group of wind instruments.

In rehearsal with Curtis Sellers and Martin Schuring, oboe; Josh Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Jason Caslor, conductor (standing), Bailey Hendley, horn; Jamal Duncan, conductor (standing); Isabella Kolasinski, horn; Albie Micklich, bassoon; Harrison Cody, bassoon (standing); Michelle Fletcher, bassoon; Douglas Yeo, serpent. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University.

As you can see from the microphones in the photos above, our concert was recorded by Central Sound at Arizona PBS. I’ve had an affiliation with Central Sound since 2016 when I began working for the weekly radio show, Arizona Encore, broadcast on KBAQ-FM, Phoenix, every Tuesday evening at 7:00. The show is also available on demand on the Arizona PBS website. I started my work for the show when my wife and I lived in Arizona (I wrote about this on TheLastTrombone on September 23, 2016) and I’ve continued to host the show periodically since we moved to the Chicago area in 2018. I enjoy researching and writing the scripts and recording the shows, and in the process, I’ve learned a lot about many superb performers and the music they play.

When our ITEC serpent recital was packaged for an Arizona Encore show, my producer asked if I would write the script and host the program. Yes! And I’m happy to say the program, which was first broadcast on KBAQ-FM on December 5, 2023, is now available on the Arizona Encore page on the Arizona PBS website. Click HERE or click the image above to go to the Arizona Encore serpent program page and hear the show. Here is the playlist for the show, that, in addition to three pieces from my serpent recital at ITEC 2023, includes a performance by the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music Wind Ensemble:

• Ingolf Dahl – Sinfonietta – University of Southern California – Thornton Wind Ensemble; Robert Reynolds, conductor

I. Introduction and Rondo

II. Pastoral Nocturne

III. Dance Variations

• Clifford Bevan – Variations on “The Pesky Sarpent” – Douglas Yeo, serpent; Susan Wass, piano

• attributed to Joseph Haydn – Divertimento in B-flat (Chorale St. Antoni), Hob. II/46 – Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, and Harrison Cody, bassoon; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jamal Duncan, conductor.

I. Allegro con spirito

II. Andante

III. Menuetto

IV. Rondo-Allegretto

• Johann Neopmuk Hummel – Partita in E-flat – Martin Schuring and Curtis Sellers, oboe; Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, bassoon; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jason Caslor, conductor.

I. Allegro con spirito

II. Andante piu tosto-Allegretto

III. Vivace assai

Have a listen and enjoy a foray into the world of the serpent, an instrument that’s so old it’s new.

Performance of the Partita in E-flat of Johann Nepomuk Hummel – Joshua Gardner and Stefanie Gardner, clarinet; Isabella Kolasinski and Bailey Hendley, horn; Albie Micklich, Michelle Fletcher, and Harrison Cody, bassoon; Douglas Yeo, serpent; Jamal Duncan, conductor. Katzin Concert Hall, Arizona State University. Photo by Tom Hentschel.

Trombone professor search: University of Illinois

by Douglas Yeo (October 6, 2023)

Readers of The Last Trombone know that I have been serving as the trombone professor at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) since summer 2022. In May of last year, the University’s former trombone professor abruptly announced he was retiring and I agreed to fill in for a year while the UIUC School of Music conducted a search for a new full-time trombone professor. Unfortunately, that search was not successful, and I have come back for another year (2023–2024) while another search is mounted. That new search has just been announced—the chair of the trombone professor position search is Dr. Kevin Geraldi, Director of Bands at UIUC; he is also a trombonist—and details about the position and how to apply may be found HERE. The job description is also found below in this article, and I’d like to encourage readers of The Last Trombone to pass on this information to anyone they know who might be interested in applying to be the next professor of trombone at UIUC. The deadline for applications is November 8—a month from now—and the position begins on August 16, 2024.

Since I arrived at University of Illinois, I have been working to develop a vibrant esprit de corps among my students, and a big part of that has been the reinvigoration of the transformative legacy of Dr. Robert E. Gray (1926–2008) who was trombone professor at UIUC from 1955–1991. Dr. Gray, who also served as President of the International Trombone Association from 1984–1986, was a remarkable person and teacher whose work continues to be remembered today by the many students, faculty members, and other individuals whose lives intersected with his. Dr. Gray was interested in much more than teaching trombone; he was interested in the education of the whole student. His teaching philosophy resonates with my own and his legacy is an important part of what we are about in the UIUC Trombone Studio.

The cover of the Winter 1992 International Trombone Association Journal, featuring a photograph of Dr. Robert E. Gray

I’ve installed a large poster on a wall in my studio at University of Illinois and my students face it as they have their weekly lessons with me. It features our fantastic UIUC Trombone Studio logo that my friend, Lennie Peterson (who also illustrated my newest book, An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player) designed for me (I’ve had t-shirts and stickers with the logo made up for our trombone students). The poster also includes the five core principles of my teaching, and it has an inspiring quotation from Robert E. Gray that I have adopted in my work as a teacher. This is the artistic, musical, teaching, and learning ethos that the next trombone professor at University of Illinois will occupy.

Another look at the culture I have established at University of Illinois can be found in my trombone studio syllabus. Click HERE to view and download a copy of my Fall 2023 trombone syllabus. Of course, our new trombone teacher will create their own syllabus with their own goals and requirements, but this is where our UIUC trombone studio is today. More than simply listing the requirements for taking trombone lessons, my syllabus speaks into the what and why of what we are doing. It is thrilling for me to be part of this vibrant campus community at this time and I look forward to handing the UIUC trombone studio to our next full-time trombone professor. UIUC—the flagship University of the State of Illinois—has a large, beautiful campus, a diverse student body and faculty, and everything that comes with being part of the Big 10 athletic conference, including UIUC’s outstanding marching band, the Marching Illini.

We are moving quickly to fill this position. We would like to have someone hired and an announcement of that hire happen as soon as possible so the announcement of our new trombone professor can impact our upcoming recruiting and admissions cycle for fall 2024. Our students—and I—are looking forward to this search process. This is a tremendous opportunity for the right person, and for our students.

Is this position for you? Or someone you know? Let us know, and GO ILLINI!

The statue of Alma Mater by Laredo Taft, on the campus of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• • •

Clinical Assistant/Associate/Full Professor of Trombone

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
College of Fine and Applied Arts
School of Music

Located on the campus of one of the world’s leading research universities, the University of Illinois School of Music is a center for creativity and collaboration through performance, research, and education. Hosting a diverse population of faculty, students, and staff, the School of Music embraces cutting-edge innovation and discovery while providing an array of musical and engagement opportunities within the artistic and educational communities of Urbana and Champaign.

The UIUC School of Music invites applications for a one-year, full-time, open rank, non-tenure-track position for Clinical Assistant/Associate/Full Professor of Trombone. Appointments will be for the 2024-25 academic year and begin August 16, 2024. Renewal of the appointment is possible and contingent on availability of funding, sufficient enrollments, and positive performance reviews. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Responsibilities:

We seek a dynamic, effective, and engaging artist-teacher with a record of high-level performances to teach undergraduate and graduate trombone students in all degree and diploma programs. This includes weekly lessons for each student, a weekly trombone studio class, and graduate-level trombone literature and pedagogy classes. Additional teaching responsibilities will be based on the secondary area(s) of expertise. Successful candidates will pursue an active recruiting program that includes building relationships with schools and private teachers statewide, other universities, and national/international organizations.

Other responsibilities include working collaboratively with faculty and staff across the School to expand engagement opportunities in Illinois school systems and to nurture young performers and assist with School recruiting efforts. Active participation in all events and programs where the visibility of the University of Illinois faculty can serve as an asset for recruiting and/or student success and morale is expected. Service responsibilities include committee work and other activities that benefit the School and its students. Evidence of success in teaching, recruiting, and service is required for possible renewal of this appointment.

All employees of the School of Music are also expected to embrace the following core ideals:

Demonstrate a commitment to building and sustaining a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, one that reflects the entire State of Illinois.
Support the University of Illinois’ dedication to being a community of care.
Demonstrate a commitment to student success and well-being through both teaching excellence and broader mentorship.
Seek out opportunities for collaboration with colleagues both on and off campus, and both within and across disciplines.
View recruiting and retention, particularly of members of underserved communities, as fundamental to the position and to the School’s success.
Work as a cooperative member of the School’s community and serve as a model of integrity and collegiality.
Exhibit passion for your work, the School, and the role of music in our society.

Required Qualifications:

Artist/Teacher with an emerging or established national reputation as a performer and pedagogue.
Successful teaching experience at the university level.
Knowledge of pathways by which students discover the instrument and demonstrated experience attracting, recruiting, and retaining undergraduate and graduate students, particularly those from underrepresented populations.
Evidence of clearly defined secondary area(s) of expertise, such as music entrepreneurship, improvisation, intercultural collaboration, community engagement, pedagogy, musicianship, chamber music, health and wellness, and/or orchestra and/or wind band repertoire courses.
History of engagement with diverse audiences, collaborators, knowledges, and traditions with respect to race, gender, and class.
History of engagement with works by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women composers, including new pieces from living composers.
Experience performing and/or teaching multiple musical styles, including those other than classical traditions.
Master’s degree in music or commensurate experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

Orchestral and/or professional wind band experience.
Chamber coaching experience.
Classroom teaching experience at the university level.
Demonstrated record of student placement and success.
Facility with new technologies and platforms for recording, creating, and distributing music.
Evidence of an innovative research profile that engages with diverse audiences.
Doctoral degree in music.

Application Procedures & Deadline Information:

Applications must be received by 6:00 pm (CST) on November 8, 2023. Apply for this position using the Apply Now button at the top or bottom of this posting. Applications not submitted through https://jobs.illinois.edu will not be considered. Initial screening of applications will begin immediately, and interviews may be conducted prior to the close of the search. However, no hiring decision will be made until after the close of the search.

Application materials should include:

Letter of interest, including a section that provides hyperlinks or URLs for online audio or audio/video files of recent live or recorded performances.
Curriculum Vitae.
Diversity and inclusion statement, including relevant experience reaching underserved communities and vision for the social role of music in the 21st century
Names and contact information of three references.

Please direct any questions to Associate Professor Kevin Geraldi, Search Committee Chair (kgeraldi@illinois.edu) or Jennifer Steiling, Sr. Human Resource Associate (steiling@uillinois.edu). Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

For questions regarding the application process, please contact 217-333-2137.

The University of Illinois System is an equal opportunity employer, including but not limited to disability and/or veteran status, and complies with all applicable state and federal employment mandates. Please visit Required Employment Notices and Posters to view our non-discrimination statement and find additional information about required background checks, sexual harassment/misconduct disclosures, COVID-19 vaccination requirement, and employment eligibility review through E-Verify.

Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply and may request a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (2008) to complete the application and/or interview process. Requests may be submitted through the reasonable accommodations portal, or by contacting the Accessibility & Accommodations Division of the Office for Access and Equity at 217-333-0885, or by emailing accessibility@illinois.edu.

Douglas Yeo podcast at The Trombone Corner

by Douglas Yeo

Today (September 22, 2023), a podcast interview I gave last week with The Trombone Corner has launched.

I’ve done many interviews over the years for print publications and radio shows, and it’s always nice to engage with thoughtful interviewers who ask interesting questions. Recently I was interviewed for something new for me: a podcast. The Trombone Corner is a production of The Brass Ark and Bob Reeves Brass, and hosted by Noah Gladstone and John Snell. Preston Shepard is the program’s audio engineer.

The Trombone Corner launched in April 2020 and now has 22 podcast interviews with a diverse group of guests from a host of musical genres including Bill Reichenbach, Christian Lindberg, Jay Friedman, Aubrey Logan, Michael Davis, Kenneth Thompkins, Angel Subero, and many more. There is a LOT of information on The Trombone Corner.

I talked about a lot of things: how I came to the trombone (actually, the trombone came to me. . .), my college years, my early career, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, my collaboration with Yamaha, and much more. As the interview progressed, it seemed that it kept coming back to the person who truly transformed my life: Edward Kleinhammer. Bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra form 1940–1985, Mr. Kleinhammer was my trombone teacher during my undergraduate years as a student at Wheaton College (Illinois). We had a wonderful, close friendship that lasted from that time until his death at the age of 90 in 2013. I never tire of talking about the influence of Edward Kleinhammer, and I especially hope that young trombonists who never knew him will learn something about him in this interview.

So, have a listen. You can subscribe to The Trombone Corner Podcast on a host of streaming services (including Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podchaser, Audacy, and many more), and you can listen to it online (and subscribe) by going to The Trombone Corner page, and the Bob Reeves Brass website. The direct link to my interview is HERE. As readers of The Last Trombone know, I don’t use social media but if you like The Trombone Corner, feel free to pass around the link to the show. I not only enjoyed being on the show myself, but I’ve learned a lot from all of the other interviews The Trombone Corner has done over the years. Have a listen!