Competitions Coordinator
contact: chase@trombone.net
CHASE WEST is currently the Instructor of Trombone and Euphonium and Assistant Director of Bands at Southern Arkansas University. As an orchestral trombonist, he has performed with the Holland Symphony Orchestra (MI), the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, and the Pensacola Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, Chase has worked as a freelance musician in Michigan, Georgia, Florida, and the Gulf Coast region, performing in various big bands, brass bands, chamber ensembles, and musical theater productions. Most recently, Chase performed as a soloist at the Big 12 Trombone Conference in Lubbock, Texas.
As an educator, Chase has previously worked as the Instructor of Low Brass at Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan, and is an active clinician at high schools and middle schools, having taught at schools across Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Arkansas. He is also a co-founder of the Gulf Coast Low Brass Academy, a non-profit organization focused on bringing affordable, professional-level musical instruction to high school and middle school students of the Gulf Coast.
An active member of the International Trombone Association, Chase serves as the Competitions Coordinator for the ITA, responsible for the implementation of fourteen annual competitions with an international pool of applicants and judges. He is currently pursuing his doctoral studies at Florida State University and holds degrees in Trombone Performance and Music Education from Western Michigan University and the University of South Alabama, respectively. His primary teachers include John Drew, Steve Wolfinbarger, Will Petersen, and Greg Gruner.