Category: teaching

What is happening? It’s not all about you. Or me. It’s about the music.

What is happening? It’s not all about you. Or me. It’s about the music.

by Douglas Yeo (October 15, 2023)

I retired from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2012 after nearly 30 years as a member of that remarkable institution. I use the word institution because the BSO was more than an orchestra. Yes, the orchestra itself was the raison d’être for BSO Inc., but there was so much that flowed from the decision by Major Henry Higginson to establish a symphony orchestra in Boston in 1881. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops Orchestra—which is the BSO minus most of its principal players—Symphony Hall in Boston, the BSO’s annual summer festival at Tanglewood, recordings, tours. It’s all part of the life I led for so many years and I am grateful that I was able to live my dream.

In the 11 years since I retired from the BSO, I’ve been engaged in a host of interesting and very rewarding activities. From recreational trips with my wife and other members of our family, to the joy of living near our grandchildren, to writing many books and articles, to teaching in several colleges/universities (Arizona State University, Wheaton College (Illinois), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), to serving now as interim music director at my church, New Covenant Church in Naperville, Illinois, my life is full and interesting. Yet while I left the full time symphony orchestra world in 2012, I’m still interested in it. Now, however, I’m mostly looking at it from the outside. And with this new perspective, I’m increasingly asking myself this question:

What is happening?

“Time,” as the hymn writer Isaac Watts reminded us in his great hymn, Our God, Our Help in Ages Past, is “like an ever-rolling stream.” Times change, things change. Nothing stays the same. It’s easy for someone at my season of life to look back at “the good old days” and assume the ways things were done back then were always better than they are today. Through an honest lens, I can say that some things were better. But not everything. And part of getting older is seeing things change and evaluating them in light of the ever-rolling stream of the passage of time.

As a college professor and one who now sits more frequently in the audience at concerts than on the stage, I am observing many trends in the performing arts. Many of these flow from current cultural mores, the evolution (and let’s remember that evolution of anything is not always for the better) of cultural thinking and operating. Recently, I’ve observed and heard about some things in the orchestra world that have me asking,

What is happening?

To wit, I recently:

  • Attended a concert by a certain professional symphony orchestra where a member of the ensemble—who did not play in the second movement of a piano concerto—took a large sheaf of yellow lined papers out from his tail coat pocket, crossed his legs, sat back in his chair, and proceeded to read the papers—shuffling the pages—for 10 minutes while the concert was going on around him.
  • Learned that a member of a certain professional symphony orchestra was recently dismissed because the member arrived late to a concert and had to conspicuously walk through the orchestra to get to the member’s seat in full view of the audience.
  • Saw a concert performed by a certain professional symphony orchestra where a player had a rough time with a long, exposed solo—I’m sympathetic to the problem; it can happen to anyone—and while he was missing notes all over the place, leaned back in his chair and kicked up his legs, making light of the situation.
  • Learned that a member of a certain professional orchestra was recently dismissed for being rude and insubordinate to the orchestra’s conductor and playing inappropriately loudly after repeatedly being asked to stop doing so during rehearsals and concerts.
  • Attended a concert by a certain professional symphony orchestra where a member of the brass section added many extra notes to his part, took several notes down an octave, and generally obliterated the orchestra with his crass, loud playing. And at the end of the concert, he smiled broadly.
  • Learned recently that the trombone section of a certain professional symphony orchestra is “the most hated section in the orchestra” because they play so loudly and out of context.

What is happening?

When I joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1985, I was 30 years old. I was an experienced bass trombonist, having been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for four years, and having worked in New York City as a freelance player for five years. I was very aware of the storied history of the Boston Symphony, its long roster of celebrated music directors, and its unparalleled recorded legacy. I was also aware that Joannès Rochut, whose name is familiar to many of not most trombonists because of the three volumes of Melodious Etudes he arranged from works of Marco Bordogni, had been principal trombonist of the BSO from 1925–1930. I knew I was coming into something that had been around for over 100 years before me.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra has traditions. Tradition is a word that gets knocked about these days. Many people equate tradition with stuffiness, with a “dead” way of doing things. But that’s not the case if tradition is vibrant. For the 104 years before I joined the Boston Symphony, it had evolved to do things in particular ways. The sound of the orchestra was rich and lush, a sound that was enhanced by the fact that the orchestra played in one of the finest concert halls in the world, Symphony Hall, built in 1900.

Boston_Symphony_low_brass_section_Barron_Bolter_Yeo_Schmitz_2001_standing

Boston Symphony Orchestra low brass section: Ronald Barron, Norman Bolter, Douglas Yeo, Chester Schmitz. Symphony Hall, Boston, 2001.

At the time I joined the BSO, there were members in the orchestra who had been hired by the orchestra’s music director from 1924–1949, Serge Koussevitzky, and many more had been hired by Charles Munch, who was music director from 1949–1962. A member of the orchestra’s cello section had played with Glenn Miller’s orchestra during World War II and was part of Miller’s group at the time Miller died when his plane’s frozen carburetor caused it to crash into the English Channel on December 15, 1944. There were men in the orchestra who wore a jacket and tie to rehearsal. There were certain ways the orchestra played, and the expectation was that new players would come into the orchestra and add to that tradition by blending with the rest of the orchestra while adding one’s own musical personality in appropriate ways. It was exhilarating. There I was, sitting in the orchestra’s low brass section between Chester Schmitz—hands down the finest orchestral tuba player that I have ever heard—and Norman Bolter—who had joined the BSO at the age of 20, a prodigy of epic proportions. Ronald Barron headed our low brass section as principal trombonist. Principal bassoonist Sherman Walt, principal clarinetist Harold “Buddy” Wright, principal timpanist Everett “Vic” Firth—they were all there, plying their craft at the highest level. I sat, I played, I observed, I learned, and above all, I fit in. Fitting in required a measure of humility. It wasn’t just because I was “the young guy” and I needed to wait my turn. No, this was normal, usual operating procedure. The goal of the entire orchestra was to present a unified musical product. And we did.

CSO_low_brass_May_1972

Members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra brass section. Back row: Adolph Herseth, trumpet; James Gilbertson, Jay Friedman (with euphonium), Frank Crisafulli, Edward Kleinhammer, Arnold Jacobs. Orchestra Hall, Chicago, 1972. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Archives.

I learned the importance of this when I was an undergraduate student at Wheaton College. I studied with Edward Kleinhammer, the celebrated bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1940–1985. In 1975, my wife and I attended a CSO performance of Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie. I had never heard the piece before I heard it at that concert (imagine a time in the world’s history where there was only one recording of Strauss’ epic work—and I had not heard it) and I was stunned by the piece and the CSO’s performance. After the concert, my wife and I waited for Mr. Kleinhammer to come up the stairs from the basement of Orchestra Hall and when he arrived at the lobby landing, I blathered away about how amazing he was in the concert. He looked at me with a penetrating stare and then said, “If you heard me, I was a failure. You shouldn’t have heard a fourth trombone player. You should have heard a great orchestra.” And he walked away. I was stunned.

The next day I had a lesson with Mr. Kleinhammer where he unpacked his comment. He told me I was listening to the wrong things. That Eine Alpensinfonie was not all about the fourth trombone player—or the trombones at all. Yes, there were moments when the trombones had a melodic line. But for most of the piece, they worked in community, supporting other instruments. Mr. Kleinhammer told me, “Douglas, it’s not about me. It’s about the MUSIC.” It was at that moment that scales fell from my eyes. I was intoxicated with the trombone section and I missed the orchestra. I had lost the forest for the trees.

And, as God can only do because He is God, I came home from that lesson and opened my Bible and read something that got my attention and changed my life. In the book of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote about the church, and how a healthy church should be and act. He wrote (1 Corinthians 12:14–27, English Standard Version):

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

It was at that moment I understood the flaw in my musical thinking. I realized that playing the trombone in an orchestra was not about me. It was not about showing anyone else what I could do, it was not about strutting my stuff, it was not about calling attention to myself. The Apostle Paul’s metaphor for the proper working of the Church—the human body and all of its diverse parts, each of which has a unique function—was a metaphor for the proper working of ANY group of people. A friendship, a marriage, a football team, a business, a church. And a symphony orchestra.

It was then that I distilled Paul’s words into a phrase that I have repeated countless times to my students and colleagues (just ask them; they’ll tell you I say this frequently):

All members of the orchestra are equally important, but at any given moment, all members of the orchestra are not equally prominent.

This is what a symphony orchestra should be about. Each member is equally important. Whether playing the melody, or an underlying rhythmic figure, or soft whole notes, every part is equally important. Just like every part of the body. But when I have long soft notes to play, they are not as prominent as the melody played by the first oboe player. The fact that the oboist has the melody in no way diminishes my contribution at that moment. And if, at the end of the concert, the conductor asks the oboe player to stand up and take a bow and the conductor does not ask me to do so, that is fine, and I will join in the applause for my colleague. Because my oboist colleague was more prominent than I was. It wasn’t about me. It’s about the MUSIC.

If I had made it about me—if I had played my whole notes in a manner that brought attention to myself while obliterating the oboe player’s solo—I would have ruined the performance. So, I committed myself to being a team player, to being part of the body that is the symphony orchestra, and to understanding my role in the greater whole. And this I did—and do—in the service of the MUSIC.

Yeo_team_player_ITAJ

Header graphic and title for Douglas Yeo’s article, “Me, Myself, and I—Are Orchestral Brass Players Losing the Concept of Being Team Players? International Trombone Association Journal, Vol. 25, No. 1, Winter 1997, 21–23.

In 1997, I wrote an article on this subject that was published in the International Trombone Association Journal (Vol. 25, No. 1, Winter 1997); it was subsequently republished in the Tubists Universal Brotherhood Association Journal—the organization has since changed its name to International Tuba Euphonium Association—(Vol. 24, No. 3, Summer 1997). My article was titled, “Me, Myself, and I: Are Orchestral Brass Players Losing the Concept of Being Team Players?” I wrote it in response to a trend I was observing—the very trend that, 26 years later, I am speaking about in this present blog post on The Last Trombone—where I sensed that students and colleagues were beginning to shift from working together to create a unified whole in performance to wanting to stand out and be noticed. A few months later, my friend Gene Pokorny, tubist with the Chicago Symphony, penned a response to my article that was published in the T.U.B.A. Journal in its Winter 1998 issue (Vol. 25, No. 2) in which he echoed and supported my arguments. You can read my article and excerpts from Gene’s response on my website,  HERE and Gene’s whole article HERE.

Which brings me back to my question:

What is happening?

As Gene said in his article:

It may be inexperience which dictates some players to not be part of the team on stage but in many cases it is CHOICE. There are many venerable professionals out there who know how to be ensemble players but, for whatever reasons, choose to not be part of the group. Some of it is carelessness, but some of it is choosing to “get back” at a conductor, make a point to a player on stage, impress some friend in the audience, etc. Whatever the reason, the choice of not playing together with everybody else on stage is a mistake in which everybody pays for somebody else’s lack of maturity. . .

Yet, here we are in 2023, and I’m writing about this again. As I observe the ongoing evolution of musical art, I am seeing more, not less of this tendency to promote one’s self at the expense of the whole. As the examples at the top of this article show so clearly, the “me first” attitude, the “it’s all about me” attitude, the “who are you to tell me what to do” attitude is on display. Players want their students to think of them as “monster” players. A monster? How about being a great trombonist who understands the role of your part in the greater whole? How about some humility? How about an understanding of the difference between importance and prominence? And how about some respect for the music, for your colleagues, for the audience, and for the tradition and history of the ensemble of which you are a part, and to be, as Gene said in his article, “a cog in the wheel” instead of “the nut behind the wheel”? Nobody—including me—does this perfectly. But can this be the goal, the aspiration, something to strive for, and can we talk about this with—even call out— those whose inherent selfishness ruins concerts on a regular basis?

There are things to learn from the way things used to be done. From from our teachers, from the teachers of our teachers, from the people in the jackets and ties. Last week, I was talking with a friend about this ongoing trend of individual players who play in order to be heard and noticed rather than playing in order to support the whole product. Like me, he studied bass trombone with Edward Kleinhammer, and my friend I and frequently talk about the state of the modern symphony orchestra. In a series of text messages last week, he offered:

I miss the old days and our old role models.

Why is the easy stuff SO HARD for some people?

God love you, Ed Kleinhammer.

To which I replied,

Preach it, brother.

Last night, when I was reading my Bible, I turned to this passage (Jeremiah 6:16, English Standard Version) that reminds us of something very important. It starts off with words of wisdom but then observes the response of many people:

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

The ancient paths. The good way. There is a lot we can learn from them. When it comes to playing the trombone, I learned about them from Edward Kleinhammer, and I have tried to emulate his spirit of being a team player throughout my career. My students have heard this from me through my over 40 years of college teaching. There are many players who understand the Apostle Paul’s metaphor of the body and how it perfectly shows us how each of us is valuable and important to any task as long as we understand our role. But there are also many who are hung up on themselves and who ruin music and music making because of their unwillingness to be a team player. Guess what? People are noticing you. Just like the music critic who noticed the trombone section when he heard a certain professional symphony orchestra perform Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra (New York Times, February 15, 1995; review by Alex Ross):

The trombones, who had been emitting ghastly sounds all night, blared too loudly in the “Zarathustra” fanfare, obliterating the top trumpet line.

Yes. You’re noticed.

Will you join me and many others—like Edward Kleinhammer, who taught so many of us about this—in walking “where the good way is”? It’s not all about you. It’s not all about me. It’s about the MUSIC.

Trombone professor search: University of Illinois

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.

Robert_Gray_ITAJ_Winter_1992-1_cover

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.

University_Illinois_trombone_studio_Yeo_poster

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!

Univ_Illinois_Alma_Mater_Laredo_Taft

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

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.

Douglas_Yeo_Trombone_Corner_podcast

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!

A change of plans and University of Illinois

A change of plans and University of Illinois

by Douglas Yeo

Regular readers of The Last Trombone may notice something is missing. A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for this blog, After 40 years of college teaching, the times they are a-changin’, in which I announced I was stepping away from institutional teaching. Ever since I served as director of bands at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, New Jersey (1979–1981), I’ve been a teacher in a host of educational institutions. From St. Thomas Aquinas I taught at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (1982–1985, during the time I was bass trombonist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 1981–1985), then New England Conservatory of Music (1985–2012, while, during that same time, I was bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), Arizona State University (2012–2016), Wheaton College (starting in 2019) and, for the 2022–2023 academic year, a one-year appointment at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. When the spring 2023 semester came to an end in the first week of May, I announced that I was putting down this over 40-year season of life in academia to turn my attention to other things, including writing several books I have under contract.

So it was that I packed up my belongings that occupied my offices in Wheaton and Urbana and brought them home. I received congratulatory messages, high-fives, some nice notes from several students, and even a farewell thank you gift and party. For a few days, I caught up reading back issues of The New Yorker and The Atlantic that had been piling up on my bookshelf, spent more time reading my Bible, visited my 91-year old mentor at his home in Idaho, and took a deep breath while I began mapping out my next steps.

Then something happened.

Over the last five months, University of Illinois had conducted a search for a new full time, tenure track trombone professor. I had been filling in at Illinois for a year between their previous trombone professor (who abruptly retired in May 2022) and when a new full-time professor would join the faculty. I greatly enjoyed my year at Illinois where I engaged with a studio of hard-working, talented students, collaborated with superb faculty colleagues, and was a part of the flagship university of the state of Illinois. I was not on the trombone professor search committee (since I was a not a permanent, full time faculty member myself; neither was I candidate for the full time position), but my students, colleagues, and I all assumed the search would be successful. As things turned out, it wasn’t. The search failed. It’s the outcome nobody ever wants in a search but sometimes it happens. So, Illinois will try again and mount a new search this fall in hopes of bringing a new trombone professor to campus in fall 2024. Watch The Last Trombone for the announcement of the search.

As this news sank in, my announced plans began to morph. Instead of thinking ahead, I thought back, to the students at Illinois with whom I worked last year and who had anticipated the beginning of a new era for trombone on campus this fall.

Together, we had worked hard to instill a new sense of esprit d’corps in the Illinois trombone studio. Among several things, I asked my friend, Lennie Peterson, to design a logo for our trombone studio, and, thanks to the contribution of a generous donor, we printed t-shirts and stickers to promote the work we were doing.

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A few months ago, when I learned that University of Illinois School of Music had given the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award to a deserving student each year since 1992, I delighted to be asked to choose this year’s recipient. I was honored to teach at Illinois last year in the footsteps of Dr. Robert Gray. His legacy is an important one. Gray studied trombone at Eastman School of Music—where he earned his masters and doctoral degrees—under Emory Remington; taught trombone at Illinois from 1955–1991; founded the University of Illinois wind ensemble; was president of the International Trombone Association from 1984–1986; was recipient of the ITA’s Neill Humfeld Award for Excellence in Teaching; and was choir director at First Presbyterian Church in Champaign. Robert Gray was interested in far more than simply teaching trombone students. He was interested in the education of the whole person, in serving people, in caring for them. I came across something he said that resonated deeply with me:

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.

In this and so many other ways, Robert Gray and I share similar views of the role of a teacher. I was grateful to serve for a year in the very same position he occupied at University of Illinois for so long. I wanted to do something more to highlight his work and legacy, and pay forward—in a new way—the generous contributions made to the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award fund by so many of his former students, friends, and family members that made this award possible. Anyone who has ready my books and articles know that history is important to me, and I saw an opportunity to keep Robert Gray’s work in front of future members of the Illinois trombone studio. First, I installed a photo of Robert Gray in the trombone studio. This photo appeared on the cover of the Winter 1992 International Trombone Association Journal in which a tribute to Gray appeared on the occasion of his retirement from University of Illinois. I wanted current and future students to make a connection with this exceptional person.

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

Then, I made a donation to the University of Illinois School of Music to produce a plaque to hang in the Illinois trombone studio, a plaque with the names of all of the past recipients of the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award—with room to engrave the names of future recipients. My donation also provides for a Robert E. Gray Trombone Award medal that is now given to recipients (in addition to the financial award the Gray Award fund generates each year) who can wear it at graduation and then have as a keepsake and ongoing reminder of their connection to Robert Gray and the Illinois Trombone Studio.

The 2022-2023 recipient of the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award was Poorna Kumar, a sophomore at University of Illinois who is double majoring in community health and trombone performance. Poorna is also a drum major with the University of Illinois Marching Illini, and while maintaining a 4.0 grade point average, plays in many musical ensembles in the Illinois School of Music. She is a most worthy recipient of the Gray Award; she embodies Robert Gray’s ideals of excellence and service.

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Poorna Kumar, recipient of the 2022–2023 Robert E. Gray Trombone Award. University of Illinois Trombone Studio, May 4, 2023.

Two previous recipients of the Robert E. Gray Trombone Award were also among my students at Illinois in 2022-2023. Charlie Hall, a senior, received the award in 2020–2021, and Jerry Min, a junior,  received it in 2021–2022. Since we worked together at Illinois last year, I wanted them to have Gray Award medals as well. Earlier this month, Charlie was the first student to wear his Gray Award medal at a University of Illinois graduation ceremony.

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Charlie Hall and Douglas Yeo, University of Illinois School of Music Convocation, May 14, 2023.

This was what I was leaving at Illinois—a vibrant educational community with students who were making a difference. I looked forward to handing off the Illinois trombone studio to a new full time professor but when the search failed, I thought of the students who would have another one-year appointee as their trombone professor. That didn’t sit right with me—some of them would then have a different trombone professor for every year of their time at University of Illinois—and after a lot of thought and prayer, I offered to return to Illinois for another year if the School of Music was interested in having me back, to provide continuity to the program as they mount another search for a new professor who will build and grow the trombone studio as Robert Gray did for so long. My offer was accepted and I’ll be returning to campus in Urbana in August for another year. With having made some other changes in my regular commitments, I’ll still have time to work on those books and other projects, too. But it seems good and right to invest in these students for one more year. And I deleted my previous blog post about stepping away from teaching. I had a change of plans.

When evaluating goals, aspirations, and dreams, I always encourage my students to hold them with a loose grip. Yes, one’s grip needs to be tight enough to invest deeply in things so you know if they are truly desirable, realistic, and achievable. But our grip should be loose enough that something else can be put into your hand, something you hadn’t thought about. A few weeks ago, completely leaving institutional teaching seemed the right thing for me to do. As it turned out, it was—until it wasn’t. Something else got put in my hand that I didn’t expect. Sometimes we are tested in our willingness to let things go, only to find that there is yet more to be done even if we think a certain work is finished. That openness to flexibility has me heading back to University of Illinois for another year of teaching trombone lessons, teaching trombone literature and trombone pedagogy, leading trombone choir, and advising students on their college and career path—and, like Robert Gray, on the path of life. I’m back.

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The sign outside of the University of Illinois Trombone Studio, Music Building 3040