Bio

I am the Principal Trombonist with the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra (Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester). Our orchestra services the entire region of South Denmark, and we frequently perform for the Danish minority community in North Germany as well. One aspect I really enjoy about my job is the variety of concerts we play throughout the season. In addition to covering the orchestral canon, we do a lot of school concerts, pops concerts, and often collaborate with Jyske Opera, Ny Opera, Rued Langgaard Festival, et al. Our orchestra’s brass quintet is also quite active, so nearly every week brings something new and different.

Before winning my current position in 2013, I had been playing second trombone with the orchestra for five years. I have performed around Northern Europe, including trials with the BBC Philharmonic and Malmö Symphony Orchestra. In addition, I have performed with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Orchestra’s brass ensemble, and Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra.

I began my musical training as a young student of Raymond Conklin, former Professor of Trombone at Murray State University in Kentucky. Ray was an exceptionally dedicated teacher. When I attended his “Conkfest” memorial in 2018, I met so many of his former students spanning several decades, and what struck me was that each and every one of us felt like Ray went way above and beyond what any other teacher would have done in order to help, whether it was extra lesson time, moral-support phone calls, hand-written lists of recommended repertoire or recordings. . . you name it: if he could help, he did. It was while I was under his instruction that I was named National Winner of the 1992 Music Teachers National Association Senior Brass Competition.

I continued my education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying under Raymond Premru. Ray had joined the Oberlin faculty after an incredible career in London. The funny thing about him was that, although he had unbelievable connections — he was on a first-name basis with Paul McCartney — he hardly ever name-dropped. In fact, you almost forgot that he was such an important figure in the music world because he was such a kind, warm, and supportive person. He gave hugs and friendship freely, and he created a wonderful learning environment in the trombone studio there at Oberlin. My senior year, our trombone quartet from Oberlin were finalists at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition.

I went on to complete a Master of Music at the University of Minnesota, studying with Tom Ashworth and Dougkas Wright. I was twice a finalist at the Zellmer—Minnesota Orchestra Trombone Competition. In 2007, I received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Washington with Don Immel. Don came into my life at an important time. There were some technical issues that had been dogging me, keeping me from achieving my dream of an orchestral career, and Don presented good strategies for tackling these problems, both in terms of trombone technique and also mental approach. It was while I was studying at UW that I began to consistently make the later rounds of auditions, and I won positions as Principal Trombone with both the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra and Northwest Sinfonietta. Don would later be a section mate of mine when I began working with the orchestra here in Denmark, and we had several successful seasons together before he accepted his current position in Melbourne, Australia.

Prior to moving overseas, I was Assistant Professor of Trombone and Brass Area Coordinator at Georgia State University in Atlanta. However, the majority of my professional career in the United States came from my years living in the Seattle area. I very frequently performed with the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. The experience of watching David Ritt, Peter Ellefson, Steven Fissel, and Chris Olka go about their business was indispensable training. There is not a day that goes by in my current position that I don’t rely on what I learned during those years performing as a guest in that great section.

While living in the Seattle area in the early 2000s, I also performed on over seventy soundtracks for major motion pictures, television and video games. There are plenty of trombonists who have done a greater soundtracks, but I feel lucky to have experienced such a wide variety of projects. For example, I had the distinction of being heard alongside Ol’Dirty Bastard for Blade 3: Trinity, I played on Michael Kamen’s last score (First Daughter), and not one, but two Nicolas Cage films: Ghost Rider and Lord of War. Two television series that had particularly memorable recording sessions were those for Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda and Stargate: Atlantis. I vividly recall walking around humming those main themes for days on end after we recorded them. When I was working in Seattle, that was a time when there was a great demand for orchestral soundtracks for video games. I played on recordings for Enter the Matrix , music for the Halo series, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mercenaries, which was one of Michael Giacchino’s first scores.

[Pictured: me wearing my dad’s velvet tuxedo, hand-made by my mother.]