July ITA Journal

The July 2020 4-color issue of the ITA Journal has been published online and is now available in the members-only section. Featured in this issue is, among others:

John Cage Solo for Sliding Trombone: A Computer Assisted Performance Approach
by Benny Sluchin and Mikhail Malt

Did Wagenseil Write the “Wagenseil Concerto”?
by Ken Shifrin

Irv Wagner: ITA 2019 Lifetime Achievement
by Dr. Taylor Hughey

Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees: A Few Thoughts on Copyright, the Public Domain, and Music Publishing
by Douglas Yeo

Music in Schools
by Jeff Dunn

Plus
General News,The President’s Column, Wellness Note, Nuggets of Wisdom, Pedagogy Corner, Audio/Video/Literature Reviews and much more.

Read it here

Peter Steiner – interview

Our latest addition to the ITA Video section is an exclusive interview (from last year’s ITF in Muncie, IN) with Italian Peter Steiner!

At the age of 23, Peter was appointed Trombonist of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic for the 2016-2017 season. Prior to that engagement he served as Principal Trombonist with the Colorado Symphony for the 2014-2015 season. He has performed as guest trombonist with many top European and US orchestras. In 2019 he was honoured as a Prize Winner at the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia.

ITA members can watch the full 30 minute interview here

International Trombone Week 2020

Trombone players marked 2020’s International Trombone Week in style from April 19–30. The focus was on:

Staying safe and healthy by creating and sharing online–no gatherings during a pandemic.
Playing and listening to music. Lots of it. Generous and talented people who love ITW provided wonderful music for us.
Encouraging others. That’s what trombone players do!

2020 ITA Officers & Board of Advisors Election Results

The 2020 elections for ITA Officers and Board of Advisors closed on March 26 and here are the results. The new terms will begin per July 2020 June and ends at the ITF in 2023. Congratulations to all new Officers and Board of Advisors!

1st Vice President/President Elect
Carol Jarvis

2nd Vice President
Megumi Kanda

Board of Advisors
Brandt Attema, Jessica Buzbee, Randy Hawes, Mark Hetzler, Alex Iles, Christine Purdue Jones, Isabelle Lavoie, Achilles Liarmakopoulos, Eijiro Nakagawa, Donna Parkes, Denson Paul Pollard, Kenneth Thompkins

Full info >>>

ITF 2020 cancelled

Over the past few weeks the concern regarding the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus has been growing. The World Health Organization has declared the situation a pandemic, encouraging an aggressive response to the global outbreak. As a result of current worldwide coronavirus situation, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 International Trombone Festival, scheduled for July 2-5, 2020. More information will follow to all event ticket holders and competition finalists as soon as it becomes available. By taking these measures we hope to contribute to preventing the further spread of the COVID-19 virus.

This was not an easy decision, and it obviously has a big impact on our organization. Further updates will be communicated through the websites www.trombone.net and www.trombonefestival.net. Should you have very urgent questions, please contact us at: cancellation@trombone.net.

We will be working to confirm a new date as soon as possible, and information will be posted as it is available. In the meantime, we hope you remain safe and healthy.

ITA Awards 2020

The ITA Awards committee is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 ITA Awards. The awards are voted upon by past presidents and the current ITA advisory committee.

This year’s ITA Award goes to Megumi Kanda. The ITA Award recognizes the highest level of creative and artistic output in areas such as performance, composition, arranging, teaching, conducting, research and/or service.

The winner of this year’s Neill Humfeld Award was Bart van Lier. The Neill Humfeld Award is given for Excellence in Trombone Teaching recognizes the trombone teaching contributions of the late Neill Humfeld and honors living teachers who have achieved the highest level of excellence in their work.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to James (Jimmy) Pankow. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes people who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to the trombone profession over a long career.

The Legacy Circle Award, that recognizes individuals who have made a profound and lasting impact on the evolution of trombone playing, go to Victor Sumerkin and Heinz Fadle.

This years’ Presidents Award chosen by the ITA President Ben van Dijk is awarded to trombonist and teacher Brett Baker.

The in 2019 introduced Kenneth Hanlon Award will this year go to Karl Hinterbichler.

Thank you!

Many thanks to all trombone players worldwide who participated in our latest survey! The response was overwhelming and we are proud to be able to present a summary of the results online. For full information please visit https://www.trombone.net/survey

New online Literature Reviews archive

After offering print reviews of new material for more than forty years in the International Trombone Association Journal, we are excited to expand to the world wide web via the ITA website www.trombone.net. Expanding to the internet offers advantages and solves growing problems as media capability and expectations of readers grow and change.

The volume of literature we handle has outgrown our ability to publish reviews in a timely fashion in the quarterly print journal. Our online column enables us to publish reviews within about three months of receipt. This is a great advancement that brings quality evaluation of new material much closer to its release date.

Our online column is searchable by everyone, not just ITA members, introducing our instrument and its repertoire to everyone from researchers to surfers.

Limits of space are always a concern in the print column. Not so online where reviewers express their evaluations and opinions free of word counts and other space saving limitations.

The archives can be found under the Journal tab in the navigation menu.

Houlding it Together

We are very proud to present Houlding it Together, a brand new and previously unpublished duet album by Chris Houlding, as the latest addition to ITA’s growing music streaming archive!

The impressive list of contributing artists includes, among others, Joseph Alessi, Ben van Dijk, Don Lucas, Niels-Ole Bo Johansen, Brett Baker, Ansgar Striepens, Carol Jarvis & Jiggs Whigham.

“The inspiration for this album came from so many memorable collaborations with colleagues, all of whom demonstrate superlative qualities as teachers, performers but above all friends. Recorded at various locations around the globe over the last ten years I hope you enjoy the breadth of diversity and style represented here.”

Full information about the album.

What I’m Watching

Welcome to What I’m Watching, a brand new project based on personal YouTube video selections, chosen by prominent trombonists and educators from all over the world. The aim of the project is to inspire, help discovering new topics and learn more about the person behind the trombone. We hope the project will be an inspiration to trombone players worldwide and new insights will be gained. The video selections will be published with regular intervals and first out is the current ITA President, Ben van Dijk, with What the President is Watching on the link below! We hope you will enjoy it!

Ben van Dijk – What the ITA President is Watching