International Trombone Week

Hello, trombone players! Thanks for contributing goodness to the world.

International Trombone Week’s official 2020 dates were April 19–26… and, since we just couldn’t stop, we went all the way through April. Everyone was welcome to celebrate, and we spotlighted some of the activity all month.

Please follow the fun on Twitter @tromboneweek and watch this page for more updates as we dig out a bit.

Thank you, Sandra Boynton, for your fabulous gift celebrating ITW!

Stay healthy. Connect and share with your community online this year. Whether you play the trombone, or just love its sound, there are many things you can do without a crowd.

Listen. Feed your ears well. Many trombone players and ensembles have been sharing special content during ITW.

  • Atlanta Trombone Ensemble unveiled an amazing performance of BoneWeek Fanfare #2.
  • Calgary Philharmonic’s Trombones hosted their annual ITW celebration called Slide Into Spring.
  • North Carolina Brass Band trombone section sent a great performance of Longhorn by Michael Davis. Thank you to Seth Frack (tenor), Drew Leslie (tenor), Jeremy Marks (tenor), and Sean Devlin (bass).
  • Ryan Keberle, trombonist and composer, extended free resources and a special discount to help us celebrate International Trombone Week.
  • Wycliffe Gordon wished everyone a Happy International Trombone Week and shared videos and other resources.

Play. You can play whatever you like. Here are some fantastic free options:

    • BoneWeek Fanfares: Celebratory trombone octets by Brad Edwards. This page lists the fanfares and includes at least one performance of each one.
    • Quartets by Nick Adams, Spencer Schaffer, and Patrick Cooper Sullivan (Patrick updated his fanfare for 2020)
    • Trios by David Caldwell and Colby Norton
    • Justice Fanfare by William Pagan-Perez as part of Harmonic Revolution: Music for Change (Donn Schaefer, University of Utah).
    • Trombone features from BandMusic PDF Library
    • Solos including Doug Yeo’s arrangements of Bach’s Cello Suites
    • Brass Bandbook from The Preservation Hall Foundation
    • Song for Health by Steven Verhelst will help you play in appreciation of our health care heroes.

Create and learn. This could be your time to:

  • Practice a new scale, warm-up, or exercise each day. We played through Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian.
  • Dust off your instrument and pay a visit to your well-worn copy of Arban’s.
  • Have an impromptu garage concert for your neighborhood while practicing safe social-distancing. (Nice job, Will Baker!)
  • Call your grandmother and play her a jazz standard. How about Blue Skies?
  • Share a video of your recital or past performance.
  • Wish a front line healthcare hero a happy birthday.
  • Arrange something for your trombone-playing friend.
  • Learn to use some notation software.
  • Read a great article about alternate positions in bebop (I see you, Tony).
  • Record an excerpt using a multi-track video app (like Roger Cutts did).
  • Soak up some Will Kimball’s trombone history.
  • Share a painting or drawing of a trombone.
  • Do a daily trombone dance-of-joy or inside parade (Thank you, Sandra Boynton!).
  • Listen to a beautiful TinyDesk Concert with Ryan Keberle and Catharsis.
  • Write a poem about your trombone stand.
  • Post your favorite trombone-related quotation.
  • Take a moody photo of your favorite mute.
  • Pose a philosophical question to your trombone colleagues.
  • Go outside, be still, and meditate on trombone goodness.

Connect with us. Tell us what you’re doing and stay up-to-date.

Be kind. Play big. We’re in this together.