Professional positions
John Marcellus is currently Emeritus Professor of Trombone, Eastman School of Music, Music Director of the Bemus Bay Pops Symphony Orchestra (2012- ) now renamed the "Chautauqua Lake Pops" and Principal Trombone, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra at the Chautauqua Institution in New York since 1979. He served as Professor of Trombone at the Eastman School of Music (1978-2014), Music Director and Conductor of the Brighton Symphony Orchestra (1980-2014). Since 1979, he has taught at the Chautauqua Institute and served as the Principal Trombonist with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra.
Previous to joining the faculty of the Eastman School in 1978, Dr. Marcellus served as the Principal Trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, DC) for 13 years, and also served as the Associate Principal Trombonist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, soloist with the United States Navy Band, and served as Principal Tuba with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16.
Dr. Marcellus was the first trombone and tuba instructor on the faculty of the North Carolina School for the Arts from 1965 to 1968. In Washington, D.C., he served on the faculties of Catholic University from 1966 to 1978, Howard University from 1967 to 1970, American University from 1968 to 1978 and the Interlochen Arts Academy from 1982 to 1983.
He served as guest conductor at the National Music Camp at Interlochen in 1982. Other musical groups that he has played with or conducted include the Penfield Symphony Orchestra, Brighton Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, Syracuse Symphony OrchestraBaltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist with theU.S. Navy Band]] in Washington D.C. 1960-1964), the National Symphony Orchestra Brass Quintet, Washington Theatre Chamber Players, and the Contemporary Music Forum, as well as performing solo recitals in London, Paris, Cologne, Stuttgart, Birmingham, Manchester, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Holland, Poland, and Denmark.
His close association with the International Trombone Association has included appearances in workshops since 1972. He is one of its founding board members and served as its president in 1988–1990)]. Other workshops in which he has performed recitals and solos include the 1976 International Brass Congress in Montreux, Switzerland, 1981 Low Brass Workshop at McGill University in Montreal, the Eastern Trombone Workshop since 1974, the Eastern Music Festival, Brevard Music Center, and Norfolk Chamber Orchestra. He served as co-director of the Eastern Trombone Workshop along with John Melick held at Towson State University (1974-1979) in Baltimore, Md. In 1980 the workshop moved to Florida State University, under the direction of Prof. William F. Cramer, in 1981 the Workshop was hosted by Bill Campbell at the University of Miami. The U.S. Navy Band, under Chief Phillips (a Cramer student) took control of the Workshop in 1983, thus bringing the event back to the DC area. In 1993, U.S. Army Band solo trombonist Scott Shelsta, with support of Colonel Bryan Shelburn, commander of The U.S. Army Band, took hold of the reins of ETW. In 2014, at the 40th edition of the Workshop, Colonel Thomas Palmatier unveiled the workshop's new name: The U.S. Army Band's American Trombone Workshop.
Joseph Norman Alessi is an American classical trombonist with the New York Philharmonic.
Philip Smith is an American classical trumpet player. He is former Principal Trumpet with the New York Philharmonic and played with the orchestra from 1978 to 2014. Smith, born in the United Kingdom, is from a Salvation Army background. He assumed the co-principal position in the New York Philharmonic in June 1978 and the principal position in 1988. He also is a supporter of brass bands, performing with various groups of distinction.
Denis Wick is an influential British orchestral trombonist. He is also an internationally respected brass teacher and designer of brass mutes and mouthpieces. On retirement in 1989 he was awarded the International Trombone Association's annual award; he served as their president 2004–2006.
Frederick Fennell was an American conductor and one of the primary figures who promoted the Eastman Wind Ensemble as a performing group. He was also influential as a band pedagogue, and greatly affected the field of music education in the US and abroad. In Fennell's New York Times obituary, colleague Jerry F. Junkin was quoted as saying "He was arguably the most famous band conductor since John Philip Sousa."
Ian Bousfield is an English musician who has held positions as Principal Trombone with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra. Also a pedagogue, Bousfield is an instructor in the music division at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland.
Chris Houlding was appointed Principal Trombone of the Orchestra of Opera North, England, when he was 21 and has played as Guest Principal with the best of UK ensembles and recently represented the UK in the World Orchestra of Peace in Russia. He is also known as an influential teacher and held the position of Senior Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester for many years.
Douglas Yeo is an American bass trombonist who played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1985 to 2012, where he held the John Moors Cabot Bass Trombone Chair. He was also on the faculty of the New England Conservatory. In 2012 he retired from the BSO and accepted a position as professor of trombone at the Arizona State University School of Music, a position he held until 2016. From 2019 to 2023, he was trombone professor at Wheaton College (Illinois), and he was professor of trombone at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2022-2024.
Emory Brace Remington (1892–1971) was a trombonist and music teacher. His unique method made him one of the most well-known and influential trombone educators in history. He was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1923 to 1949, and on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY from 1922 until his death in 1971.
Robert Loren Marsteller (1918–1975) was a prominent US symphonic trombonist and music educator. He was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied under Emory Remington. Marsteller was the first trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra, performed in a Navy Band during World War II, and then served as principal trombonist for 25 years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. He was a member of the faculty of the University of Southern California from 1946 until his death. He premiered many major works, including the Paul Creston Fantasy for Trombone and Orchestra and Sonata by Halsey Stevens (1967). Like Remington, Marsteller was a master teacher, and many of his students hold chairs in major symphony orchestras around the country and in Europe.
Ralph C. Sauer is an American trombonist, arranger and teacher. He was Principal Trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 32 years.
Mark Kellogg is an American musician who worked as the principal trombonist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He is an associate professor of classical and jazz trombone and euphonium at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
The Eastern Trombone Workshop (ETW) has become one of the largest annual events for trombone in the world. The workshop's mission is to give students, performers, and educators an opportunity to meet and share ideas, talents, and opinions about the world of trombone. ETW regularly hosts participants throughout the nation and abroad. The workshop is held at Brucker Hall—The U.S. Army Band's state-of-the-art performance center—located on historic Fort Myer, Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
Archibald Clyde Roller was an American music professor, conductor, and oboist.
Mark Davis Scatterday is an American conductor best known for his association with the Eastman School of Music, at which he is currently serving as conductor of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Jeff Tyzik is an American conductor, arranger, and trumpeter. He has recorded jazz albums as a soloist and arranged pop and jazz music for orchestras.
Heather Buchman is an American conductor and trombonist. She is Professor of Music at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, where she serves as director of the Hamilton College Orchestra and Chamber Music Program and Chair of the Department of Music. She has served as Education and Outreach Conductor for Symphoria, formerly the Syracuse Symphony. She has developed numerous innovative programs for Symphoria's Spark Series, as well as for the orchestral and chamber programs at Hamilton College. She appears frequently as conductor and trombonist with the Society for New Music and other organizations.
Megumi Kanda (神田めぐみ) is a Japanese trombone performer.
Donald Lucas is a trombone artist and educator. He is an associate professor and Brass, Woodwind & Percussion department chair at the Boston University School of Music and served as president of the International Trombone Association.
Philip Jameson graduated from Wooster High School in 1959 and attended Baldwin Wallace College for one year.
