2024 Schedule

Schedule

8:30am Box Office Opens

9:00am OPENING CONCERT:

SOCAL INTERCOLLEGIATE CHOIR, DR. MITCH FENNELL, CONDUCTING, RECITAL HALL

9:45am

Middle and High School Students: Group Warmup Dr. Russ Zokaites
Room: M200 
College Students/Adults: Group Warmup Richard Harris
Room: Recital Hall

10:30am

Middle and High School Students:
Trombone Choir Reading
Dr. Karen Marston
Room: M200 
College Students/Adults:
Visit exhibits
Rooms: M108-M109 

11:30am

Middle and High School Students:
Visit exhibits
Rooms: M108-M109
College Students/Adults:
Trombone Choir Reading
Bob Sanders
Room: Recital Hall 

12:30pm-1:15pm – LUNCH (Exhibit hall is open!)

1:15pm – “10 Steps to Stronger and More Nimble Trombone Playing,” STEVE FERGUSON (The Horn Guys), RECITAL HALL 

2:00pm – GUEST ARTIST RECITAL: DR. RUSS ZOKAITES, RECITAL HALL 

2:30pm – GUEST ARTIST RECITAL: RICHARD HARRIS, RECITAL HALL

3:00pm – GUEST ARTIST MASTERCLASS: JENNIFER WHARTON with BOB SANDERS, RECITAL HALL

3:45pm – MASTERCLASSES

Bass Trombone: Dr. Russ Zokaites
Performers: Jack Johnson and Eddie Bonilla
Room: M200 
Tenor Trombone: Richard Harris
Performers: Nathanael Peters and Niko Hernandez
Room: Recital Hall

4:30pm – GUEST ARTIST RECITAL: JENNIFER WHARTON, RECITAL HALL 

5:15pm – FINALE CONCERT: BONES WEST, RECITAL HALL

 

2024 Guest Artist: Jennifer Wharton

JENNIFER WHARTON is a low brass specialist based in New York City. Though getting her start classically, Jen has deep roots in jazz, commercial, chamber and Broadway music.

Jennifer leads the trombone-forward ensemble, Bonegasm, commissioning works from jazz heavyweights and newcomers. She was awarded a 2020 grant by the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theater to continue to bring trombone music to the masses. The result was Bonegasm’s sophomore album, Not A Novelty (2021), a follow up to their debut Bonegasm (2019). Downbeat Magazine called the most recent album “Trombone Ecstasy”.

Jen is currently performing in Sweeney Todd on Broadway and has held positions on at West Side Story, King Kong, Beautiful, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, Jekyll and Hyde, Scandalous, Wonderland, 9 to 5 and Curtains, as well as performing as a substitute in many other Broadway productions. She has won the Radio City Christmas Spectacular bass trombone chair five times.

In addition to being an in-demand freelancer, Jennifer is an active studio musician. She can be heard streaming on shows like Mrs. Maisel, Schmigadoon, Vivo, and Jerry Seinfeld at The Beacon. Commercials include Booking.com, The Incredibles 2, The Greatest Showman and more. She has also been on over 40 big band recordings since 2009.

She is a member of three Grammy-nominated ensembles, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Alan Ferber Big Band and the Terraza Big Band. Jen also plays in the Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra which won the 2023 Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble. She has performed on the Grammy-nominated cast albums for The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, 9 to 5 The Musical and Curtains The Musical as well as the Grammy-winning recording of Beautiful – The Carole King Musical.

Jen has performed, toured and/or recorded with groups including the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie All Star Band, Ken Peplowski Big Band, Miggy Augmented Jazz Orchestra, DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Birdland Big Band, Ayn Inserto Jazz Orchestra, Woody Herman Orchestra, John Yao and His 17 Piece Instrument, Generation Gap Big Band, Walking Distance, South Florida Jazz Orchestra, New Alchemy Jazz Orchestra, Steven Feifke Big Band, and the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop.

Jennifer is an XO Professional Brass artist and plays their 1240-LT bass trombone. She teaches bass trombone at Rutgers University and Montclair State University in New Jersey and gives clinics and masterclasses regularly throughout the United States.

2024 Guest Artist: Dr. Russ Zokaites

DR. RUSS ZOKAITES: FRESNO STATE UNIVERSITY

Russ Zokaites has had a diverse career as a musician and trombonist. His performance credits include, recording the Fuchs Bass Trombone Concerto with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” performances with the Dayton Philharmonic, Kentucky Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic (Norway), The Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, and live on Netherlands Radio 4. He has performed with many great musicians including Joseph Alessi and YouTube Star Christopher Bill. In 2014, Zokaites recorded the #1 pop hit in the Netherlands with the band Sunday Sun. Zokaites has collaborated with over 35 composers including Grammy Award winning Kenneth Fuchs, American Prize winner Martin Hebel, and Inez McComas. Dr. Zokaites keeps an active schedule as a guest performer performing at such schools as, the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, Wright State University and University of California, Davis.

Dr. Zokaites serves as the Lecturer of Trombone and Euphonium at Fresno State University in California. His solo album is published by Centaur Records and is available through Naxos. Russ was a Fellow at the 2013 Alessi Seminar hosted by Joseph Alessi of the New York Philharmonic. He is an artist with endorsements from Lätzsch Custom Brass and Monster Oil.

Zokaites’ work in new music consists of interdisciplinary collaborations and social commentary. Mood Swings (2021, McGillicuddy, Findley) presents music composed during the COVID-19 pandemic. His recent album Bootleg (2021, Fuchs, Edwards, Hebel, Timmons) uses folk tunes and elements of American music to convey aspect of Appalachian Identity. The Wild Called Maxx (2016, Whitney George composer, Sammy Lopez illustrator) combines original and popular music with an illustrated story book about a young millennial searching for a home. The Ghettoblaster Project (2014, the Netherlands) showcased seven compositions recycling noise pollution through a wall of 1980’s boomboxes. Transformative Perspectives (2014, the Netherlands) combined poetry and music in humorous social observation.

Many of these projects have been presented at international conferences. Russ was a featured soloist at the 2021 and 2019 American Trombone Workshops, performing with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” He gave full recitals at the 2022, 2019, and 2018 International Trombone Festival. Further performances took place at the 2023, 2021 ITF, and 2016 International Horn Symposium. As an advocate for his commissioned works, the works composed for him have been performed by the Iceland Symphony, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, several military bands, prominent American trombonists and many professors and students.

As a trombone choir conductor, Zokaites’ choirs performed at the 2023 International Trombone Festival, won an honorable mention in the 2016 International Trombone Association Remington Choir competition, performed at the 2016 American Trombone Workshop, and he prepared the 2018 Latzsch Festival choir for a performance conducted by Christian Lindberg.

Russ has been active as an organizer across the globe. He served as the Festival Coordinator for the 2018 and 2014 Lätzsch Trombone Festivals (NL/Germany) where he worked with some of the worlds leading trombonists included Zoltan Kiss, Carol Jarvis, Randy Hawes, Stefan Schulz, and many others. In 2013, Zokaites organized the ArtSEdeZ festival for new music in Zwolle, Enschede, and Arnhem (NL).

Dr. Russ Zokaites holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of South Carolina, and ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de kunsten (NL). He had further studies at the Aspen Music Festival and School. His main teachers include Brad Edwards, Pete Norton, Peter van Klink, John Rojak and Timothy Anderson. Dr. Zokaites previously served as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Trombone at Morehead State University for four years.

2024 Artist: Richard Harris

RICHARD HARRIS: UNIVERSITY OF DENVER

Whether its performing on OSCAR wining soundtracks such as “Joker,” the GRAMMY award winning album “Twelve Little Spells” with Esperanza Spalding, or recording solo and chamber music CD’s, Richard Harris has crafted an eclectic musical career. As a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral performer, educator and advocate, his performances have taken him all across North & South America, Europe and Asia.

Richard is currently on faculty at the University of Denver, is the former Assistant Principal Trombone of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and formerly an Associate member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He is a regular guest with many of the US’s top symphony orchestras, including the Seattle Symphony, Boston Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic and is a former member of the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra in New York City, where he has also performed with many other Broadway productions.

Richard recorded with pop-star Sting on his first studio album in a decade and has performed and toured alongside a diverse range of musicians, such as, Rza, Puff Daddy, Snoop Dogg, Vince Mendoza, Natalie Cole, Seth McFarlane, Boyz II Men, Megan Hilty, Roseanne Cash, Bryce Dessner, Chris Botti and classical music stars Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli.

Mr. Harris is a member of ‘Decoda’ a New York City based chamber music collective which is the first ever Affiliate Ensemble of Carnegie Hall and he is also a member of Summit Brass. As a chamber musician he has been a guest artist at Chamber Music North West and has performed with The Canadian Brass, The Empire Brass, The Metropolitan Opera Brass Ensemble, The Lincoln Center Trombone Ensemble, the Boston based string ensemble, A Far Cry and he appeared on onstage at the Park Armoury in New York with the Knights Chamber Orchestra in “The Head & The Load” directed by William Kentridge.

A native of Worcestershire, England, Richard was a scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He completed his Masters Degree at Indiana University before spending three seasons with the New World Symphony Orchestra led by Artistic Director Michael Tilson Thomas. Mr. Harris is a former fellow of Ensemble ACJW, a program of Carnegie Hall & The Juilliard School and Richard has worked for Carnegie Hall as a teaching artist.

During the summers Mr. Harris teaches at the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute and he is also on faculty at the Idyllwild Summer Arts Academy in California where he coaches high school students in chamber music and orchestral literature. In the mountains of Santa Fe New Mexico Mr. Harris hosts “RichardTromboneCamp!” An annual multi day retreat for brass players to explore and deepen their understanding and knowledge of brass performance.

Richard presents multiple classes and is joined by other leading brass artists throughout the seminar.

Richard is strong believer that the arts can be a powerful agent for social change, and he currently serves on the board of “Musicambia” a New York based non-profit which teaches classical music in prisons and jails across the US. He is also the co-ordinator for Decoda’s workshop activities at Administration for Children’s Services, New York City’s child welfare and preventative services department. He is the co-founder and former Executive Director of the Miami Music Project a non-project music education program in Miami Florida. Under Richard’s leadership the Miami Music Project raised over $1.5 million in 1 year from it’s inception and bought chamber music to thousands of Miami-Dade County public school students.

Richard lives in Colorado with his wife, their two sons and their English Bulldog ‘Churchill.

2023 Schedule

Joining us for Trombone Day?  Here’s what’s happening!

 

Schedule

8:00am BOX OFFICE OPENS

11:00am-11:15am BREAK/TROMBONE CHECK OPENS

11:15am-12:15pm OPENING CONCERT: Recital Hall
Fresno State University Trombone Choir, Dr. Russ Zokaites, Director
Empress Trombone Octet

12:15pm-1:00pm LUNCH (Many food options walkable across Grand Ave: Subway, Domo Sushi, Jack-in-the-Box, Taco Nazo, Yoshinoya, Wingstop)

1:00pm-1:30pm HIGH SCHOOL QUARTET COMPETITION: Recital Hall
Judges: Dr. Karen Marston, Dr. Deb Scott, Bob Sanders

1:30pm-2:15pm ARTIST MASTER CLASS, YU TAMAKI: Recital Hall Performers: Cooper Randeen, Santiago High School; Nagisa Kuwabara, Azusa Pacific University; Key Poulan, Fresno State University

2:15pm-2:45pm SHARED FACULTY RECITAL: Recital Hall
Featuring Dr. Deb Scott, Bob Sanders, and Dr. Russ Zokaites

2:45pm-3:30pm MASTER CLASSES
Tenor Trombone Master Class with Dr. Deb Scott: M200 Performers: Jason Bernard, UCLA; Frankie Ye, Mt SAC; Lauren Parisi, Fresno State University
Bass Trombone Master Class with Dr Russ Zokaites: Recital Hall Performers: Trenton Ballinger, Riverside City College; Toby Hung, El Camino College & CSU Long Beach

3:30pm-3:45pm BREAK

3:45pm-4:30pm ARTIST CONCERT, YU TAMAKI: Recital Hall

4:30pm-5:45pm CLOSING CONCERT: Recital Hall
SoCal Intercollegiate Trombone Choir, Bob Sanders, Conducting
High School Quartet Results and performances
Bones West

2022 Schedule

Welcome to Trombone Day!  Here’s what’s happening!

Please note: Mt San Antonio College currently requires masking on campus.  Musicians are required to use bell covers and masks in rehearsals; Masks can be removed during performances. 

For more information about COVID protocols on campus: https://www.mtsac.edu/covid19/

9:00-9:30am

High School: Group Warm-up with Dr. Karen Marston, Feddersen Recital Hall
Adult/College: Group Warm-up with Bob Sanders, TENT (in parking lot)

9:30am

Trombone Check opens in room M119
High School
: Reading Session with Dr. Lori Stuntz, Feddersen Recital Hall
Adult/College: Visit the exhibits in room M108

10:30am

High School: Visit the exhibits in room M108
Adult/College: Trombone Choir Reading Session with Bob Sanders, TENT (in parking lot)

11:30am

Opening Concert, Intercollegiate Choir

12:00pm

Free time/Exhibits/Break/Lunch

1:00pm

High School Quartet Competition, Feddersen Recital Hall
Judges: Dr. Karen Marston, Shelly Suminski, Dr Lori Stuntz, Bob Sanders

1:30pm

Open rehearsal with Alex Iles and Bones West, Feddersen Recital Hall

2:00pm

Artist Master Class, Alex Iles, Feddersen Recital Hall

3:00pm

Guest Recital, Empress Trombone Quartet Recital, Feddersen Recital Hall

3:45pm

Artist Recital, Alex Iles Artist Recital, Feddersen Recital Hall

4:45pm

Finale Concert, Bones West, featuring Alex Iles, Feddersen Recital Hall (Quartet Winners will be announced prior to concert)

See you on April 23!

 

 

 

2023 Registration

Interested in being a part of SoCal Trombone Day? 

ONLINE REGISTRATION IS OPEN THROUGH THE MT SAC BOX OFFICE.  Navigate to Feb 11, 2023 for ticket options.

Regular Registration: $30.00
(Students, Seniors, Military, Children under 12: $20.00)
Concerts only: $10.00
(Students, Seniors, Military, Children under 12: $8.00)

Student competitors receive a special rate.
Please email Len Wicks at lenwicks@gmail.com for more information.

ALL ATTENDEES RECEIVE 4 DOOR PRIZE TICKETS FOR THE EVENING DRAWING!

See you on Feb 11!