Trombone Area
Our Trombone Faculty
Trombonist Peter Ellefson grew up in southern Oregon and now holds the rank of Professor of Music at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. He has performed, recorded and toured internationally with the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National and Oregon Symphonies, among many others. From 1992-2002, he was a member of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, where he made dozens of recordings, playing trombone, euphonium and bass trumpet. Prof. Ellefson served as principal trombone for many cycles of Seattle Opera’s renowned productions of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. Also during his time in Seattle, he recorded music for over 100 motion picture, IMAX, TV and video game soundtracks, working with such composers as Elmer Bernstein, Bill Conti, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Michael Kamen and Basil Poledouris. He has also backed entertainers as diverse as Linda Ronstadt (as lead trombone in the Nelson Riddle Orchestra), Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra Jr., Ray Charles, James Taylor, Manhattan Transfer and YES.
Prof. Ellefson has given concerto performances of works by Bloch, Bourgeois, Deemer, Dorsey, Grøndahl, Guilmant, Kazik, Larsson, Mackey, Maslanka, Pryor, Pugh, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rouse, Serocki and Tomasi. Additionally, composers Anthony Barfield, James Stephenson and Kevin Walczyk have written concertos for him. Chamber music credits include the Canadian Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Chicago Trombone Consort, Chicago Brass Quintet, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet, Proteus 7, Trombones de Costa Rica and the newly formed trombone quartet “4.” Prof. Ellefson has taught at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, the University of Costa Rica and the Music Academy of the West. He is a contributing author to “The Brass Player’s Cookbook” and has had articles published in the Journal of the International Trombone Association. His solo CD, “Pura Vida” was released in 2010 and his Internet home can be found at www.peterellefson.com.
Carl Lenthe served as the principal trombonist with the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (1977-1994) and the Bamberg Symphony (1994-1998). He has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, and others.
He received first prize with distinction at the international music competition "Prague Spring." Mr. Lenthe has appeared as a soloist with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Prague Symphony, and the Bamberg Symphony and is an active performer on alto, tenor, and bass trombone; euphonium; and bass trumpet.
Mr. Lenthe's chamber music activities include tours and recordings with Summit Brass and arranging, publishing, and performing of various brass chamber and solo literature. His most recent CD is titled The Audition Window (Summit Records DCD 354).
Denson Paul Pollard is professor of music in trombone at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
Pollard began as bass/tenor trombonist/bass trumpet player with the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in September 2007. He was bass trombonist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra from 2014 to 2015 and the Hong Kong Philharmonic from 2001 to 2007. He has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. His teachers have included Jim Roberts, David Gier, George Krem, Charles Vernon, and Joseph Alessi.
Pollard earned a Master of Musical Arts degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa, where he served as a teaching assistant in musicology, jazz, and applied trombone. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Jacksonville State University, Alabama. He has been a member of the faculty at Mannes School of Music, Bard College, The Juilliard School, and the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan.
A passionate champion of the bass trombone as a solo instrument, Pollard has performed concertos and played solo recitals throughout the world. He has recorded three solo CDs: Up From Below, Point in Time, and Listening. He can also be heard on three MET Opera Brass recordings and a recent CD with James Markey, bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Bass Trombonist’s Guide to Orchestral Excerpts.
Pollard’s recordings are available at CD Baby and Hickey’s Music Center. He is a Buffet Group artist, performing exclusively on Courtois trombones.