Artists

Artists/Teachers

Jeroen Berwaerts
Trumpet

Belgian trumpeter Jeroen Berwaerts is a paramount musical force with an all-inclusive love for music that knows not how to discriminate. Praised for his outstanding technical capabilities and sensitive musicality, his repertoire encompasses every epoch, from baroque music to contemporary music to jazz. With a flourishing solo career of recitals as well as concerts with the world's leading symphony orchestras, Jeroen Berwaerts still finds time to devote himself to chamber music.

Born in 1975, Jeroen Berwaerts' musical talents had already been awarded with prizes from various competitions such as the Concours Maurice André (1991) and Concours Européen de Jeunes Trompettistes (1992) when he began studies in Karlsruhe with celebrated trumpet-virtuoso Reinhold Friedrich. He was also an award-winner at the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 1997 and won the 2nd grand prize as well as the "Prix Feeling" (a special prize for best interpretation) at the Maurice André Trumpet Competition.

Jeroen Berwaerts' open-mindedness and resplendent playing have brought him invitations to play at internationally acclaimed music festivals, including Ars Musica in Belgium, Takefu International Music Festival and the Rheingau Music Festival, as well as frequently at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival where in 2005 he performed the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa's Voyage VII for trumpet and ensemble. He has also performed as a soloist with many well-renowned orchestras including the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover and the Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen under conductors such as Alan Gilbert and Yakov Kreizberg. Since winning the position of Principal Trumpet of the NDR Radio Symphony Hamburg in 1999, he has been invited to appear on several occasions as soloist with the orchestra.

Following many years as a member of the Canadian Brass, Jeroen Berwaerts now plays with the Stockholm Chamber Brass. Over thirty compositions have been written for the ensemble, which performs mostly original compositions or arrangements of both contemporary and more traditional repertoire.

Amidst his burgeoning trumpet career, Jeroen Berwaerts completed Jazz vocal studies at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. He has developed several programs for trumpet and piano where he uniquely combines classical, jazz, trumpet and voice.

His first solo CD In the Limelight provides a stunning take on trumpet repertoire of the Romantic period. RCA also released a live-CD featuring the Posthornserenade by Mozart under the baton of Günther Wand. Since 2008, Jeroen Berwaerts has been a Professor of Trumpet at the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover.

Craig Morris
Trumpet

TRUMPETER CRAIG MORRIS emerged onto the international classical music scene by winning the prestigious position of Principal Trumpet in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, assuming that post from the legendary Adolph “Bud” Herseth in 2001. A desire to more fully focus on his own artistic projects, however, led Morris to leave his position with the CSO and pursue a career as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist, Morris has been featured with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Beijing Modern Music Festival, the Sacramento Symphony, and the Miami Bach Society to name a few. Additionally, Morris has been a featured soloist at Carnegie Hall, the American Bandmasters Association Convention, and the International Computer Music Conference. In 2009, Craig gave the U.S. Premier of Desolation Wilderness, a trumpet concerto by the renowned British composer Joby Talbot, under the baton of Marin Alsop at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Craig’s debut solo CD, Permit Me Voyage – featuring the music of Debussy, Schumann, Brahms, and Barber – will be released on Naxos in 2011, following the acclaimed 2007 Naxos release, Reflections, featuring Morris as the soloist on Thom Sleeper’s Concerto for Trumpet. Morris was also the subject of an hour-long radio feature/interview on KALW San Francisco after his performance of the Talbot Concerto at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in 2009. During his orchestral career, Craig performed as Principal Trumpet on the Grammy nominated recording of Furtwangler’s Symphony No. 2 with the CSO and Daniel Barenboim, as well as the following recordings with the San Francisco Symphony: Copland the Populist — Charles Ives the American Journey — American Mavericks: Visionaries, Pioneers, Iconoclasts — Aaron Copland: The Essence of America — and Metallica: S&M.

A strong new music advocate, Morris has worked closely with prominent composers such as Jennifer Higdon, John Adams, John Corigliano, Steve Rouse, Osvaldo Golijov, Avner Dorman, Kevin Puts, Mason Bates, Aaron Jay Kernis, Dorothy Chang, and many more.

Prior to his appointment in Chicago, Morris held the position of Associate Principal Trumpet in the San Francisco Symphony and Principal Trumpet in the Sacramento Symphony. He has performed with artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, Martha Argeric, Daniel Barenboim, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas, Miroslav Rostropovich, Gil Shaham, and Helene Grimaud among others. He has also had the fortune of performing in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls: Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the KKL Luzern, Boston Symphony Hall, the BBC Proms at Royal Albert Hall, and more. In addition to the previously mentioned orchestra positions, Craig has held/won the Fourth Trumpet position in both the Chicago and Boston Symphony Orchestras.

Morris is currently the Professor of Trumpet and Chair of the Brass Program at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music, where he devotes himself to his teaching and his career as a soloist and chamber musician.

A Texas native, Morris grew up in a musical family. He attended the University of Texas and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers include Ray Crisara (Professor, University of Texas), Glenn Fischthal (former Principal Trumpet, San Francisco Symphony), and Jim Wilt (Associate Principal Trumpet, Los Angeles Philharmonic).

Dale Clevenger

Horn

Considered by international audiences and colleagues to be the reigning virtuoso of the

horn, Dale Clevenger is also a consummate and multifaceted musician. Long sought

after as a teacher by students from around the globe, he is increasingly in demand as

a conductor due to his elegant style and artistry.

Throughout the world, Clevenger has performed to acclaim as soloist and/orconductor

in symphonic, chamber music and jazz performances, on classical and commercial

recordings, three of which won Grammy Awards, and in countless musical festivals,

master classes, workshops and instructional engagements.

Among the highlights of his illustrious career:

- 45 years with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

- Three Grammy Awards

- Conductor and/or soloist with numerous orchestras in North and Central America,

Europe, Asia, Australia and elsewhere, including recent conducting in Spain with

Daniel Barenboim as soloist

- John Williams Concerto for Horn written for - and premiered by - him

- Faculty of Roosevelt University and the Jacobs Scholl of Music at Indiana

University; former faculty of Northwestern Univerity Music School

- Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Horn Society, 2010

- Honorary Doctorate (Elmhurst College) and Distinguished aAlumni Award

(coming October 2011 from Carnegie Mellon University)

Denson Paul Pollard began as bass/tenor trombonist with the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in September, 2007. Pollard was the bass trombonist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic from 2001-2007. He has also been bass trombonist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Cedar Rapids Symphony, the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Metro Opera Orchestra and the principle trombonist of the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra. Pollard has played with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Houston Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. His teachers have included Dr. Jim Roberts, Dr. David Gier, George Krem, Charles Vernon and Joeseph Alessi.

Pollard was awarded the Master of Musical Arts degree and the Doctorate of Musical Arts in performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he served as a teaching assistant in the areas of musicology, jazz and applied trombone. Pollard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. Dr. Pollard has taught at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Chinese University. During the 2000 year, Pollard was professor of trombone at the University of Northern Iowa. Currently, Dr. Pollard is a member of the brass faculty at Montclair State University, the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College and during the summers, the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.

As a commercial musician, Pollard has played with numerous shows. He was the tuba/bass trombonist with tours of the revival of Showboat and the off-broadway touring production of Annie. He played bass trombone for an 18-month tour with Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Music of the Night and the Barry Manilow Concert Tour.

Pollard is a passionate champion of the bass trombone as a solo instrument and has played solo recitals all over the world. He has been a featured soloist with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the West Point Military Academy Band, the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts Wind Ensemble, the Jacksonville State University Wind Ensemble, the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra, the Des Moines Community Orchestra and numerous community bands across Iowa, USA. He performed a solo recital as a featured artist at the 2008 Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, D.C. and was a featured soloist at the 2009 Asia Trombone Festival in Taipei, Taiwan. Recently, Pollard was featured as a soloist with the US Army Band at the 2010 Eastern Trombone Workshop.

Pollard’s solo CDs entitled "Up From Below, "Point in Time" and "Listening" are available at www.cdbaby.com/dppollard and www.hickeys.com

Denson Paul Pollard

Bass Trombone

Stefan Heimann

Tuba

Ian Bousfield has been at the top of the profession for over one quarter of a century, excelling in perhaps more facets of the music business than any other trombonist to date. His career has included playing in two of the acknowledged top-four orchestras in the world, one of which is recognized as perhaps the greatest opera orchestra, performing as a soloist to the highest possible level with orchestras, brass bands and on period instruments, recording as a soloist on top labels, playing theme tracks to Hollywood blockbusters and teaching at the Royal Academy in London.

Born in York in 1964, Ian is a product of the famous brass band tradition in the north of England. His earliest teaching came from his father and from Dudley Bright, who in a strange twist, was later to replace Ian in the London Symphony Orchestra. The main spell that Ian enjoyed in the brass band movement was with the Yorkshire Imperial Band between the ages of 14 and 18, during which time he was fortunate to win the the National Championships (1978), the British Open (1981) and the Yorkshire Championships on two occasions (1980, 1981) with the band.

In 1979, at the age of 15, Ian won the Shell London Symphony Orchestra scholarship, at which point his career began to move undeniably in the direction of orchestras. He joined the European Youth Orchestra aged 16 under Claudio Abbado and made a brief stop at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before becoming Principal Trombone in the Halle Orchestra in 1983. During his time in Manchester he performed the UK premiere of Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik by Gunther Schuller, with the composer conducting. After five years with the Halle, Ian replaced one of his life-long mentors, Denis Wick, as Principal Trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1988, where he enjoyed a 12 year career, was featured as a soloist with the orchestra on several occasions and recorded the soundtracks to many films, including Star Wars: Episode I and Braveheart. In 2000, following a successful audition in Vienna, Ian became Principal Trombone of the Vienna Philharmonic/Vienna State Opera – the first, and to date, only British member in the orchestra’s history. This appointment was followed shortly afterwards by his membership of the Vienna Hofkapelle Orchestra.

As a soloist, Ian has, amongst others, performed with the Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, Sapporo Symphony, Austin Symphony. He has worked with the following conductors: Riccardo Muti, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Neville Marriner, Kent Nagano, Ion Marin and Matthias Bamert, and EMI, Camerata, Chandos and Doyen are amongst the labels for whom Ian has made several solo recordings over the years. Probably the two highlights of Ian’s solo career to date have been performing the Nina Rota Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti (2008) three times in Vienna, as well as in The Lucerne Festival and in Tokyo, and giving the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Stargazer, written for and dedicated to Ian, with the London Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas (2007). He has performed with all of the world’s major brass bands, recording with many of them. He has appeared as a soloist pretty much everywhere in the world, and as a clinician, it’s probably easier to mention the conservatories and festivals at which he has not appeared!

Ian was appointed Professor of Trombone at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1992, a position which he holds to today, although now in a reduced, advisorial capacity due to orchestra and solo commitments. He has also since then been awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music. His list of former students includes some of our current most successful players in orchestras around the world.

Ian Bousfield

Trombone