Last summer members of the ITA Governance Committee started the process of considering names for the 2020 ITA ballot. An initial listing of nearly 100 names was eventually reduced to the 20 on this year’s ballot. Voting recently closed, and we are happy to announce the results below. A special thanks to each ITA member who voted. Participation was the strongest ever, with more than 1/3 of the membership casting a vote. There was considerable support for everyone on this year’s ballot, and the individuals listed below were elected in their various capacities. We are honored to have such an esteemed group of individuals representing the ITA leadership over the next three years. A special thanks to members of the ITA Governance Committee members Steve Wolfinbarger (chair), Nathaniel Brickens, JoDee Davis, Ben McIlwain, and Chris Shook (ex-officio).
Here are the results (serving from 2020-2023):
1st Vice President/President Elect
Carol Jarvis
Carol Jarvis is a multi-award-winning much in-demand freelance trombonist, session musician, arranger, orchestrator, and voiceover artist. She has appeared as guest principal trombone with most of the UK’s major symphony orchestras and has toured and recorded extensively with a whole host of stars such as Sting, Paloma Faith, Seal, MUSE, Daughter, Bon Jovi, and Ellie Goulding. Carol’s session work features on numerous soundtracks for feature films, advertisements, jingles, albums, and singles, and she regularly performs in London’s West End shows. Her orchestrations have featured on albums at the top of the UK and US billboard charts, won the Mercury Music Prize, been recorded at the famous Capitol Studios in Hollywood, and played during The Oscars. Carol is a past president of the British Trombone Society, is currently the president of the International Trombone Festival Board, and is a Rath trombones endorsed artist.
2nd Vice President
Megumi Kanda
Megumi Kanda, principal trombone of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, is a native of Tokyo, Japan. Coming to the US in 1994, she received her B.M. degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. Prior to joining the Milwaukee Symphony in 2002, she served as a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, faculty member of the Eastman School of Music Community Education Division, and principal trombonist of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. As a JVC/Victor Entertainment artist, Megumi has recorded three solo albums: Amazing Grace, Gloria, and Mona Lisa. She has premiered three works written for her by Amy Mills, Bruce Stark, and Geoffrey Gordon. In 2006, Megumi was recognized by the Arion Foundation in Japan as one of the most influential Japanese classical artists. She also received a Certificate of Commendation from the Consul General of Japan at Chicago in recognition for distinguished service contributing to the friendship between the United States and Japan. Her first book, The One Hundred, a comprehensive trombone orchestral excerpt book with commentary, was published by Encore Music Publishers in 2015. Megumi is a Greenhoe clinician and performs on a Greenhoe trombone.
Board of Advisors
Brandt Attema
Brandt Attema is professor of trombone at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany. As well, he is leading the bass trombone classes of the Codarts Conservatory in Rotterdam and the Royal Conservatory in The Hague together with Ben van Dijk. He is a steady member of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, the New Trombone Collective, and the international trombone quartet Slide Monsters. As a member of the Trombone Collective, he is partly responsible for the bi-annual festival Slide Factory. In 2008 Brandt and harpist Astrid Haring were the first worldwide to form a bass trombone-harp duo. Since then more than 15 compositions were especially composed for their duo and they perform concerts all over the world. As a soloist and teacher, he is a regular guest of international brass festivals. Between 1999 and 2019 he was bass trombonist of the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of the Netherlands.
Jessica Buzbee
Jessica Buzbee, a trombonist and Eastman clinician based in Melbourne, Australia, attended the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and studied with Ingemar Roos and Christian Lindberg. She has also studied with Michael Bequet, Arnold Jacobs, Jay Friedman, and Edward Kleinhammer. While studying in Chicago, she was a member of the Chicago Civic Orchestra. Jessica was the first prize winner of the international solo trombone competitions Concours Branimir Slokar 2000 in Switzerland and Lieksa Trombone Competition 1998 in Finland, as well as third prize at the Concorso Internazionale Giovani Concertisti 2000 in Italy. In 2002, Jessica received the Swedish honor “Kristallen den fina” (Crystal Prize). Jessica is a member of the trombone sextet Trombone Unit 2000, a group handpicked and directed by Christian Lindberg. They performed at the 1998, 2003, and 2010 International Trombone Festivals. Jessica’s recordings include a duet with Christian Lindberg on his CD Christian Lindberg and Friends Play, a duet with Tim Buzbee on his solo CD Buzzed, and the low brass orchestral excerpt CD Eruption. She has held positions with the Gävle, Malmö, and Iceland Symphony Orchestras and the Malmö Opera Orchestra.
Randall Hawes
Randall Hawes joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1985. Before joining the DSO, he was a member of the Woody Herman Band for two years. He has performed with the Pittsburgh, Boston, Cleveland, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the Grand Teton Music Festival orchestras, Summit Brass, and Chicago Chamber Musicians. He studied with William Rivard at Central Michigan University and Byron McCullough at Carnegie Mellon University. Randall has been a member since 1995 of World Orchestra for Peace with Sir Georg Solti and Valery Gergiev. His discography includes solo CDs Melodrama, Barn Burner, and Belle Nuit; recordings with DSO under Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Järvi, and Günther Herbig; the Chicago Symphony with Sir Georg Solti and Riccardo Muti; and the World Orchestra for Peace with Sir Georg Solti and Valery Gergiev. Randall has taught at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University since 2004 and the Cleveland Institute of Music since 2016.
Mark Hetzler
Mark Hetzler has been playing trombone since the age of 12. He received his B.M. from Boston University and a M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music. He was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and the New World Symphony. As a member of the Empire Brass Quintet from 1996-2012, Mark performed internationally and across the United States. Mark has released twelve recordings on the Summit Records label. Active in the creation of new music, Mark is also a composer and arranger, fusing classical styles with many non-classical influences in the adventurous new music group Mr. Chair. Former principal trombone of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Mark has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Pops. He is the professor of trombone at UW-Madison and a member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet.
Alex Iles
Alex Iles, a graduate of UCLA, has established himself as a versatile “first call” trombonist/ low brass performer, recording artist, and educator. Alex toured as lead and solo jazz trombonist with the Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson big bands. He was an original member of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band and has performed on hundreds of television and motion picture soundtracks, including Star Wars 7, 8 and 9, and The Incredibles. In 2002, Alex was appointed principal trombonist of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and The LA Chamber Orchestra. In 2014, Alex became a member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Alex served as faculty trombone and jazz instructor at the California Institute of the Arts and Azusa Pacific University. He appears internationally as a recitalist, soloist, and clinician, including times at the International Trombone Festival.
Christine Purdue
Jones Christine Purdue Jones is a trombonist with The United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. She holds degrees from Stetson University (B.M.), The Juilliard School (M.M.), and the University of Miami (D.M.A.). An active soloist, Christine performed Elgar Howarth’s Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra with the United States Army Orchestra at the 2019 American Trombone Workshop. She has soloed numerous times with Brass of the Potomac, including a performance at the 2017 American Trombone Workshop. She is committed to leveraging performance through the whole person concept, and recently spoke on this topic at the 2019 International Women’s Brass Conference. Christine serves on the board of Brass of the Potomac, and recently oversaw all logistics for a new recording. She is also the founder and director of the Women’s Development Series at Joint Base Anacostia- Bolling, a successful speaker series that she built from the ground up.
Isabelle Lavoie
Isabelle Lavoie is a bass trombonist and educator based in Toronto. She has performed with the Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet of Canada, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, and Hamilton Philharmonic. She has also performed with the Macao Orchestra in Asia on several occasions. Isabelle was principal bass trombone with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for 2018-2019, and previously was principal trombone with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. She was trombone instructor at Lakehead University for 2016-2017. Isabelle is member of Monarch Brass and is active with the International Women’s Brass Conference. She was also a performer at the 2016, 2017 and 2018 International Trombone Festivals. After receiving a B.M. from the University of Montreal, where she studied with Albert Devito, Isabelle completed an artist diploma at The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, under the tutelage of Jeffrey Hall and Gordon Wolfe.
Achilles Liarmakopoulos
Achilles Liarmakopoulos is the trombonist of the Canadian Brass. Achilles holds degrees from the Yale University School of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, and the Philippos Nakas Conservatory in his hometown of Athens, Greece. Upon completion of his studies, he won the position of principal trombone of the Greek National Radio Symphony Orchestra. As a recitalist, Achilles has performed worldwide. He has won prizes at the Christian Lindberg International Competition, the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe (YMFE), and the International Trombone Festival’s Robert Marsteller/Conn-Selmer and Larry Wiehe solo competitions, to name a few. His discography includes five solo albums and five recordings with the Canadian Brass. Achilles also performs with Pink Martini and salsa icon Ruben Blades. He is an adjunct trombone professor at Brooklyn
Eijiro Nakagawa
Eijiro Nakagawa is fluent in both classical and jazz trombone. His solo debut in 1996 was with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and he has since performed with several orchestras, including the Kosei Wind Orchestra. In demand in recording studios, he can be heard on recordings backing up some of the hottest artists in Japan as well as many jingles, soundtracks, and television shows. His earlier recordings include The Down Unders with Rikya Masudahis and his first solo CD in New York entitled Eijiro Nakagawa & Funk 55. Other CDs include, Babe, Peace, From the Cradle to the Grave, For Musicians Only, ASAP, Sing, Sing, Sing and Voice. These CDs feature the talents of Nicholas Payton, Abraham Burton, Daniel Faulk, and the Brecker Brothers. With the support of Yamaha-Japan, Eijiro has designed his own models of both tenor and bass trombones. His new Japanese jazz group, the Beat Detectives, had their first live performance at Blues Alley in Japan. In New York he has teamed up with Jim Pugh in a new group, E’nJ, which has just completed its first CD after being a hit at the Blue Note.
Donna Parkes
Australian trombonist Donna Parkes has been principal trombone of the Louisville Orchestra since 2008 and has been principal trombone of the Colorado Music Festival since 2009. She is on faculty at the University of Louisville and Bellarmine University. Donna has played previous seasons with the San Francisco Symphony and the Utah Symphony, and was a member of the Virginia Symphony from 2001- 2007 and of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. She has performed with many orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the London Symphony, National Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Donna has appeared at the Arizona Musicfest, the Marlboro Festival, and the Grand Tetons Festival, and in 2016 toured with the Australian World Orchestra. Solo competition successes include winning the Australian National Trombone Competition and the Brisbane International Brass Competition; she was a finalist in the Jeju Brass Competition in Korea. She has appeared as a soloist or clinician at the International Women’s Brass Conference, International Trombone Festival and the Melbourne International Festival of Brass and was a 2019 recipient of the Ford Musician Award for Excellence in community service.
Denson Paul Pollard
Denson Paul Pollard was appointed professor of trombone at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in the fall 2017. He has also served as bass/tenor trombonist/bass trumpet player with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from 2007. Pollard is a past member of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He has served as a faculty member of the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan since 2008. Pollard holds a master of musical arts degree and the doctorate of musical arts in performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa and a bachelor of science degree in music education from Jacksonville State University. He has recorded three solo CDs entitled Up From Below, Point in Time, and Listening. He can also be heard on three MET Opera Brass recordings and a collaboration CD with James Markey, bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, entitled The Bass Trombonist’s Guide to Orchestral Excerpts.
Kenneth Thompkins
Kenneth Thompkins is principal trombone of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, appointed by Neeme Järvi. Prior to this, he held positions in the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Florida Orchestra. Ken has been invited to perform and conduct masterclasses at many music schools, including the Curtis Institute of Music, The Eastman School of Music, the University of Michigan, and Interlochen Arts Academy. An active chamber musician, Ken performs frequently in recital and is a member of Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings. He has performed concertos with both the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and New World Symphony. Ken can be heard on recordings by Detroit Chamber Winds, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. His solo trombone recording Sonatas, Songs and Spirituals features the music of Alec Wilder, Philip Wharton, Stephen A. Taylor, and William Grant Still.