Hillary Simms

[Jimprindle]

New member of American Brass Quintet, trombone faculty Julliard. How come she has not come up on this site before?

[Burgerbob]

She's pretty young. She was a fellow finalist in the Laetzsch Trombone Festival in 2018 with me... she's definitely done much more than me in the meantime!

[Bach5G]

Ms Simms is a young Canadian trombonist from Torbay, Nfld.

It would be an interesting story how she got from Torbay to New York and the Julliard. Stops in McGill, Yale, and Chicago.

[dbwhitaker]

A recent interview with her in the NY Times (gift link, not behind paywall):

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/30/arts ... =url-share

[CalgaryTbone]

I've been hearing about her in Canadian music circles for a couple of years. People have been raving about her playing. Congratulations to her!

Jim Scott

[tbdana]

I'm just happy that female trombonists are starting to get recognition, and that there are more and more really good female players.

[RustBeltBass]

New member of American Brass Quintet, trombone faculty Julliard. How come she has not come up on this site before?

That is a good question and while I don’t know the full and true answer to it, I highly suspect that the “competition” this forum receives from social media outlets makes it less likely for people to post about current affairs.


More topic related, she sounds absolutely fantastic, subs with major orchestras as well. Very cool to see her join this great group.

[CalgaryTbone]

I think her name is just getting out there because the American Brass Quintet is her first high-profile job. I don't believe she's on this site, and like I said, she has had some recognition here in Canada, with some wins in solo competitions. I'm sure we're going to be hearing a lot more about her in the near future. The Juilliard position is because the ABQ is an "ensemble in residence" at Juilliard. The group plays some regular concerts there, and produces some brass chamber music with the students as well as doing some regular coaching of student brass quintets. She might do some lessons as well - not sure how the students are assigned to the trombone faculty. I'm sure such a good player will be in demand for some lessons in NYC from all of the students in the various music schools. I look forward to listening to new recordings from the ABQ with Hillary as a member. Also, I saw a report on their website that Michael Powell is recovering from his stroke. Sad that his career was cut short, but glad to hear that he is getting better.

Jim Scott

[BrianJohnston]

I believe you haven't heard of her because she kept her head down, and focused on working hard. She's quite the player and I believe she deserves that spot.

[CalgaryTbone]

I believe you haven't heard of her because she kept her head down, and focused on working hard. She's quite the player and I believe she deserves that spot.