Reviewer Bio

Bio

Born in Monterey, California, Douglas Yeo grew up in Queens and Long Island, New York where he began playing trombone at the age of nine. Before his long career as bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1985–2012), he was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a free-lance musician in New York City, and a high school band director. For over four decades he has served as trombone professor at some of the most prestigious schools of music in the United States including Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (1982-1985), New England Conservatory of Music (1985–2012), Arizona State University (2012–2016), Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, Illinois (2019–2023), and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2022–2024). He received his Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College (1976)—where he studied trombone with Edward Kleinhammer (bass trombonist of the Chicago Symphony, 1940–1985)—and his master’s degree from New York University (1979). From 1998 to 2008, Douglas Yeo was music director of The New England Brass Band (1998–2008) and he has been a frequent guest conductor and clinician with bands and orchestras in the United States and Great Britain. Douglas Yeo has been the recipient of numerous awards including the International Trombone Association’s 2014 ITA Award, given to him “in recognition of his distinguished career and in acknowledgement of his impact on the world of trombone performance”, the ITA’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2010 International Tuba Euphonium Association Clifford Bevan Award for Meritorious Work in Low Brass Scholarship. He has written dozens of book chapters and articles for many publications including the International Trombone Association Journal, the Historic Brass Society Journal, the International Tuba Euphonium Association Journal, and the Galpin Society Journal. He is the author of The One Hundred: Essential Works for the Symphonic Bass Trombonist (Encore Music Publishers, 2017/2024), Serpents, Bass Horns and Ophicleides at the Bate Collection (University of Oxford Press, 2019), and co-author (with Edward Kleinhammer) of Mastering the Trombone (Ensemble Publications, 1997). His most recently published books are Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (co-authored with Kevin Mungons, University of Illinois Press, 2021), and An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021). His instructional DVD and seven solo recordings have received critical acclaim as have his 12 music arrangements that are published by G. Schirmer, International Music, Southern Music, Ensemble Publications, and De Haske Music. He is also a scriptwriter and on-air host of radio programs produced by Classical Arizona PBS. As a teacher, Douglas Yeo has given master classes and recitals on five continents and has held residencies around the world including at the International Trombone Festival (nine times), the Banff Center (Canada), the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival (nine times) and the Nagoya Trombone Festival (Japan), the International Trombone and Tuba Festival (Beijing), and the Dutch Bass Trombone Open (Holland). Since 1994, he has also been an active performer worldwide on serpent, ophicleide, and bass sackbut, performing with those instruments in recitals, museum demonstrations and audio guides, and with early music groups including Boston Baroque, Philharmonia Baroque, and the Handel and Haydn Society. His website, yeodoug.com (1996), was the first site on the Internet devoted to the trombone, and his blog, TheLastTrombone.com—Occasional thoughts on Life, Faith, and the Trombone—was launched in 2016. Douglas Yeo is a YAMAHA international performing artist.

Published Reviews