TromboneChat

Hello everyone

As a woman who plays the trombone, I've always been interested in tracing the history of women trombonists. I'd love to hear from anyone about their personal experiences as a female trombonist. It would be even better if anyone has any sources or links for further research. I've already done some of my own and will link a great resource below on some awesome women trombonists. Thanks in advance!

https://glissandoo.com/en/blog/posts/fe ... ne-players

There’s an interesting link in the Hillary Simms thread.

A few too add to your list

Carol Jarvis - Grammy nominated, prof at Trinity Laban & RNCM, 1st female President of the ITA, to name a few things


Melba Liston - trail blazer and unsung hero in the big band era and beyond as a player & composer/arranger


Lillian ‘Tiger Lil’ Briggs - another from the days of the all girl big bands, she went on to have success when rock n roll happened, appearing on TV and in movies.



Just to get you started

Maisie Ringham - first female principal trombone of a British orchestra.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maisie_Ringham

Geordie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:29 am Maisie Ringham - first female principal trombone of a British orchestra.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maisie_Ringham

Already on the OP’s list at number 6

Vegasbound wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:32 am

Geordie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 2:29 am Maisie Ringham - first female principal trombone of a British orchestra.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maisie_Ringham

Already on the OP’s list at number 6

Ha! Should have read the list first. Will take a look.

Aubrey Logan.

Mayumi Shimizu -Principal Trombone SWR Symphony Orch

Shannon Barnett is missing! She has just released a very nice live album, absolutely worth checking out!

Rita Payes


--Andy in OKC

Kanda Megumi is also one of the greats. I think she's still in Milwaukee and plays a lot in Tokyo.

Brittany Lasch has been featured a lot at big events recently. She's a really candid presenter at her masterclass and a very good soloist.

Jessica Buzzbee is also worth looking into.

Laurie Salamando is a player from my home area, went to Eastman for trombone and played I think in all the service bands (Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard). She studied with my teacher from high school.

Julie Josephson got an artist diploma on trombone from New England Conservatory in 1985? and went on to be a freelance performer in NYC.

Shari Norfolk was a Navy musician who went on to teach trombone in a North Carolina college.

A while ago I compiled a list to help inspire several middle-school trombonists. There are repeats from what’s listed above. I don’t have any links—I wanted the students to do their own research.

Jazz
Gunhild Carling
Carol Jarvis
Natalie Cressman
Sarah Morrow
Melba Liston
Debra Weiss

Classical
Rebecca Cherian, Pittsburgh SO
Abby Conant, Munich SO and freelance
Monique Buzzarté, NY Freelance
Donna Parkes, Louisville SO
Amanda Stewart, St Louis SO
Vanessa Fralick, Toronto SO
Heather Buchman, freelance and conductor
Lisa Albrecht, freelance in NY
Vivian Lee, OSM
Natalie Mannix, freelance
Betty Glover (retired, Cincinnati)
Dr. Karen Marsten, freelance and Empress Trombone Quartet
Dr. Lori Stuntz, freelance and Empress Trombone Quartet
Shelly Suminski, freelance and Empress Trombone Quartet
Amy Bowers, freelance and Empress Trombone Quartet

Groups
PRISMA Quartet
Bones Apart
DIVA Big Band
Empress Trombone Quartet
Bay Area Women’s Philharmonic

Early music (sacbut)
Susan Addison
Liza Malamut

Tuba
Carol Jantsch, Philadelphia SO
Deanna Swoboda, ASU
Velvet Brown, Penn State Univ
Amy Schumaker Bliss, euphonium
Dr. Gail Robertson, Univ. of Arkansas

Carol (Jarvis) should be on both lists, not just a “Jazz” player as a freelancer she has played with the Halle, Opera North and most if not of all London orchestra’s.


Hellen Vollum - Principal BBC Symphony Orch

Just to add some laurels to the kudos : I played recorder and harpsichord duets with Betty Glover [Bass Trombone -Cincinnati Orch. ret.] years ago. She would tour Europe in the summertime as a harpsichordist ! What a talented lady !

The list above is a good starting resource, but some of the info is out of date or incomplete:

I only have info on the Classical folks, but:

Rebecca Cherian, Abby Conant and Vivian Lee have all recently retired and Abby was a Professor in Germany for many years after leaving Munich. Lisa Albrecht is 2nd in Rochester for quite awhile now. Donna Parkes has left Louisville (not sure where she's gone). Natalie Mannix and Karen Marsden are both Professors - North Texas and Mt. San Antonio College respectively.

Kathy Macintosh is the 2nd trombone of the Edmonton Symphony and Rachel Thomas holds that chair in the Kitchner Waterloo Symphony, and the Tuba there is Jen Stephen. There was a female Bass Trombonist one the Winnipeg Symphony until fairly recently (sorry. I'm drawing a blank on her name, and she's not listed on the site since she retired - Julie?).

2 great players that I just heard in recitals at the ITF - Katy Jones (Halle ?- Principal) and Louise Pollock (Principal in Gothenburg Opera).

Jim Scott

Also Jennifer Wharton (I don't think I saw her on the lists above).

https://jenniferwharton.com/

Awesome to see the Empress folks pop up- such awesome people! And Monique Buzzarte- she's such a special musician.

Also Julianne Gralle- freelance and studio work in LA.
Lindsay McMurray - freelance and really excellent jazz trombonist in LA. she's in one of the Disneyland Bands.

Kalia Vandever- freelance jazz/commercial trombonist in NYC. Recently put out an incredible solo album and finished a tour with Harry Styles.

Sasha Romero- principal trombonist at the MET.

Ava Ordman, who teaches at MSU and has a really excellent recording of the Donald Web Concerto. Was (is?) In Grand Rapids Symphony and Cabrillo Festival Orchestra.

On the weirder music side of things, Maria Bertel and Amelia Coulter do really amazing work.

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She has been mentioned, but when speaking of female trombonists, the story around Abbie Conant at the Munich Phil is certainly essential.
Even Wikipedia has an okay summary of events: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbie_Conant

Both tenor trombonists with the Halle Orchestra are female.

I walked into a big band last night and it sounded like Rich Bullock on bass, but no. Leslie Havens. What a great player, 26 years with the Diva Orchestra.

https://musiccrossingborders.wordpress. ... ie-havens/

baileyman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 5:34 am I walked into a big band last night and it sounded like Rich Bullock on bass, but no. Leslie Havens. What a great player, 26 years with the Diva Orchestra.

https://musiccrossingborders.wordpress. ... ie-havens/

Leslie is a fantastic bass trombonist. I had the honor to sit next to her in a couple of gigs.

Also should mention Maureen Horgan, who used to be Principal in an orchestra here in New Hampshire but moved somewhere in the South where she has a teaching position. Fantastic tenor trombonist.

baileyman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 5:34 am I walked into a big band last night and it sounded like Rich Bullock on bass, but no. Leslie Havens.

You know Rich? He's been a friend of mine since the late '70s, when we both played with the Watrous and Al Hirt bands. Great guy. Was a monster of a bass trombonist back in the day. If Leslie Havens sounds like him, she's got some air, some chops, and some (forgive me) huge balls.

Since I didn't see her name on here already, one of my favorite Jazz/Creative players as of late has been Ebba Åsman.

margdufay01 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 06, 2023 9:58 pm...I've always been interested in tracing the history of women trombonists.

From a historic standpoint, you might want to look at the All-Girl bands of the WWII era; there was a book written about them a few years ago:
https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/ ... -the-1940s

I know there was a "Women's Orchestra of Los Angeles" from the mid-1890's into at least the late 1920's; I'm not sure if other cities had similar institutions. I know the Los Angeles group predated the old Los Angeles Symphony by a few years and the Los Angeles Philharmonic by more than two decades.

While they were often look upon as novelties, the level of musicianship is supposed to have been quite high.

Talking about women's orchestras. there's Andre Rieu, who fields an orchestra comprised entirely of women; probably mostly for the novelty.

BGuttman wrote: ↑Tue Aug 08, 2023 8:31 pm Talking about women's orchestras. there's Andre Rieu, who fields an orchestra comprised entirely of women; probably mostly for the novelty.

Not true, the orchestra is mixed

Shannon Barnett!

Fellow woman trombonist here!

Megumi Kanda is an incredible woman trombonist. She's currently principal trombone of Milwaukee. There is a great article written about her by Douglas Yeo in the January 2021 ITF Journal that goes into detail about her life. I highly recommend checking it out.

https://www.yeodoug.com/articles/Yeo_IT ... ribute.pdf

She also has some great recordings on YouTube, as well as three of her own albums.

MS

This past spring at ATW, Seraph Brass gave a masterclass of sorts. This is an all-female brass quintet. The trombonist is Victoria Garcia who subs with the Boston Symphony from time to time. I was kind of hoping they'd play more, but they mostly talked about how they got where they were.

hyperbolica wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 12:21 pm This past spring at ATW, Seraph Brass gave a masterclass of sorts. This is an all-female brass quintet. The trombonist is Victoria Garcia who subs with the Boston Symphony from time to time. I was kind of hoping they'd play more, but they mostly talked about how they got where they were.

There is an archive of this masterclass on the ATW Youtube channel. Definitely worth a listen!


They also performed with the US Army Band, premiering Anthony DiLorenzo's "Chimera".


Vicki is pretty active on her social media, check her out!

Fair to say some progress has been made?

While I'm glad for the attention trombonists who happen to be women are getting, I hope that stops. Otherwise, I'll have to start saying things like:

He's pretty good for a man.

Who's a good man trombonist?

Can we get a list of male trombonists?

...and that all-time favorite that we women love to hear...

We've already got one male trombone player, why would we want another?

tbdana wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 5:14 pm I'll have to start saying things like:

He's pretty good for a man.

Who's a good man trombonist?

Can we get a list of male trombonists?

...and that all-time favorite that we women love to hear...

We've already got one male trombone player, why would we want another?

No, I dont think you will have to start saying that.. The only thing holding you back from those remarks are yourself, use your better sense.

That sounds like a really good problem to have being honest.

I think tbdana’s post might have been tongue in cheek.

My sarcasm filter doesn’t work after 10PM

Written sarcasm or humor often fall flat on the Internet.

I guess that's why I've gotten in trouble with some of my (intended-to-be) lighthearted posts.

CalgaryTbone wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 10:25 am .... Donna Parkes has left Louisville (not sure where she's gone).

Donna returned to Australia. Social media posts show she is building a house near Canberra and appears to have been doing some high level subbing.

Missing from the list is another Louisville Orchestra trombonist, Patsy McHugh. Performing in a pre-Internet age, her name pops up most often with the LO recording of Ned Rorem's "Air Music" for trombone and cello with piano, violins and violas.

I had the pleasure of performing and recording with Patsy and Ray Horton (bass trombone) in 1975. If you can find them, check out her playing on the Louisville Orchestra's "First Edition" recordings. She was an excellent first chair for many years.

There are no women trombonists, there are just trombonists.
We are all equal, but bass trombonists are more equal than others!

Karna Millen is Principal Trombone of the US Coast Guard Band:

Katie Franke just won an audition yesterday to become the first woman trombonist in the President's Own Marine Band.

Hillary Simms was recently appointed to the American Brass Quintet and will join the faculty of the Juilliard School.

Hana Beloglavec is starting her new job as Assistant Professor of Trombone at Florida State after teaching for the last several years at Louisiana State.

Brittany Lasch - already mentioned - is starting her new job at Indiana University after teaching at Bowling Green State in Ohio for the last several years. Her DMA is from Boston University.

Elisabeth Shafer is starting her new job at The Ohio State University after teaching at the University of Akron and then the University of Memphis. Also a BU DMA. Go Terriers!

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 6:11 am Kanda Megumi is also one of the greats. I think she's still in Milwaukee and plays a lot in Tokyo.

When you say Kanda Megumi, you mean Megumi Kanda.

JoeAumann wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 8:12 pm

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Mon Aug 07, 2023 6:11 am Kanda Megumi is also one of the greats. I think she's still in Milwaukee and plays a lot in Tokyo.

When you say Kanda Megumi, you mean Megumi Kanda.

Dang, I must've been reading it wrong.

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 9:01 pm

JoeAumann wrote: ↑Mon Aug 28, 2023 8:12 pm

When you say Kanda Megumi, you mean Megumi Kanda.

MK210327_720-600x338.png

Dang, I must've been reading it wrong.

Definitely does say Kanda Megumi...even if my kanji sucks.

Honestly, we haven't made any "progress" until women trombonists are just seen as trombonists. Feeling a need to list women trombonists just shows how unequal we are in our minds. The hyper-vigilant identity consciousness perpetuates all the -isms.

The goal is to get to a place where women trombonists are just trombonists. But if we don’t accept that we’re not there yet, and acknowledge that these fantastic musicians and teachers are women, we’ll never get there. We have to acknowledge the problem and talk about it right now to get to the place where it becomes irrelevant.

I love these lists. As a female trombonist, there weren't too many role models when I was growing up, and knowing of Abbie Conant's challenges were tough. But as I've gotten older I've seen more and more filling in the top ranks, breaking barriers and filling seats that have never been held by a woman before! And now as an adult taking lessons I have an excellent professional female teacher, it's very inspiring!

Janice Robinson

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