Purpose

The Legacy Circle Award recognizes individuals who have made a profound and lasting impact on the evolution of trombone playing or teaching. Membership to this elite group is reserved for those whose accomplishments have been exceptional in the trombone community. The Legacy Circle Award may recognize the accomplishments of those whose careers predate the founding of the ITA in 1972.

Selection Criteria

Candidates for the ITA Legacy Circle Award shall have demonstrated:

  • A lifelong commitment to the trombone and/or trombone related activities
  • A career that has reflected a commitment to an elite level of excellence and achievement
  • A level of excellence deemed to be exceptional in the trombone community

Selection Process

  • ITA members may submit nominations for the awards. Each nomination should include a short (under 250 words) biography for each nominee.
  • Nominations are closed by the end of the day on January 1 each year.
  •  Nominations remain active for three years after which time, a candidate may be renominated for consideration for an award.
  • Members of the Standing Committee on Awards may not submit nominations for awards.
  • If a member of the Committee on Awards is nominated for an award, that Committee member must either resign from the Committee, depart from the Committee for one year, or withdraw their nomination from consideration.
  • Once all nominations are received, the Standing Committee on Awards will convene either in person or virtually to discuss the nominations (new nominations as well as those that carry over from previous years) for each award.
  • The Committee will, after consideration of the nominees, arrive at consensus and prepare a ballot.
  • A ballot shall be prepared by the Chair of the Committee on Awards with (if technical assistance is required) the assistance of the Chair of the Committee on Governance and/or the ITA Executive Director.
  • The Committee on Awards is to include the submitted biography for each nominee who is on the ballot. These biographies will be included with the ballot.
  • On February 1 of each year, a ballot with the candidates for each award shall be sent to the ITA Executive Board.
  • The ITA Executive Board will discuss the candidates and vote on the candidates. A winning candidate must receive 100% of the votes cast. More than one candidate may win the award in a given year. The awarding of the Legacy Circle Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, and the ITA Orchestra Recognition Award will be made only as deemed appropriate, without regard to a prescribed number of annual nominations.
  • Award winners will be notified by the ITA President and award winners will be publicly announced after all winners have been notified and no later than by February 15 of each year.

Nominations may be sent to the Chair of the ITA’s Standing Committee on Awards at awards@trombone.net.

Previous Recipients

  • 2007
    Vladislav Blazhevich
  • 2007
    Tommy Dorsey
  • 2007
    Gilberto Gagliardi
  • 2007
    JJ Johnson
  • 2007
    André LaFosse
  • 2007
    Arthur Pryor
  • 2007
    Emory Remington
  • 2007
    Jack Teagarden
  • 2016
    Gabriel Masson
  • 2016
    Davis Shuman
  • 2016
    Joseph Alschausky
  • 2016
    Miff Mole
  • 2016
    Bill Harris
  • 2016
    Juan Tizol
  • 2016
    Robert Müller
  • 2016
    Thorkild Graae Jorgensen
  • 2016
    Albert Mangelsdorff
  • 2016
    Curtis Fuller
  • 2016
    Henry Romersa
  • 2016
    Al Grey
  • 2016
    Willie Colon
  • 2018
    Maisie Ringham Wiggins
  • 2019
    Melba Liston
  • 2019
    Bill Watrous
  • 2019
    Urbie Green
  • 2020
    Victor Sumerkin
  • 2020
    Heinz Fadle
  • 2021
    Keith Brown
  • 2021
    Joannès Rochut
  • 2021
    Russell “Big Chief” Moore
  • 2022
    Lillian Briggs
  • 2022
    Dorothy Ziegler
  • 2024
    John Swallow
  • 2025
    Enrique Crespo
  • 2025
    John Marcellus
  • 2025
    Ernest Glover