New Music at the ITF

2025

International Trombone Festival

Composers Workshop

The International Trombone Festival is excited to sponsor the eighth annual COMPOSERS WORKSHOP, to be held at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada: July 16-July 19, 2025. This year we feature composer Elizabeth Raum.

Elizabeth Raum has established herself as one of Canada's most eminent composers whose music has been played in concerts and festivals throughout Canada, the US, Europe including Rome, England, Portugal, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Russia, China and Japan. She has written 6 operas, numerous works for large orchestra and over 80 chamber compositions. Her music has been recorded on over 50 commercial CDs and she is included in the New Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the New Grove’s Dictionary of Opera, and the New Grove’s Dictionary of Women Composers as well as numerous other prestigious publications.

Special Trombone Choir Performances

  • Wednesday, 7:30 p.m., University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Trombone Choir

    Chris Evan Hass-Through the Vaulting Skies, Through the Vaulting Skies is an epic tale for trombone choir, taking its title from Homer's Odyssey. Loosely following the hero's journey narrative structure, this is a story of adventure, grandeur, and power. This high fantasy-inspired tale begins with rumblings of an ancient artifact compelling our heroes to adventure. Conflict hits the heroes at seemingly every corner, but this adversity only fuels the party’s determination to retrieve the mystical

    artifact and save the world.

    Chris Evan Hass (b. 1993) is a composer, arranger, conductor, and friend hailing from Ann Arbor, MI whose music has been praised as “beautifully expressive” (the WholeNote) and “thrillingly off-kilter” (Double Reed Journal). Chris’ music has been performed worldwide by members of the New York Philharmonic, U.S. Naval Academy Band, Sinta Saxophone Quartet, Dallas Winds, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and U.S. Army Band. Chris holds degrees in Composition from Central Michigan University (M.M.) and Western Michigan University (B.M.).

  • Thursday, 8:00 p.m. All-Star Choir Trombone Choir

    Constellations is a lively work in 6/8 for 10-part trombone ensemble that demonstrates how individual players - "stars" - can come together to form a greater, more complex picture - a "constellation".  A fanfare-like opening introduces the main motifs, which are then developed throughout the piece in different variations and contexts. The piece features a heroic sound that mimics the tone of the starry legends that inspired it.

       Nathan Daniel is a trombonist who has performed in multiple student and community ensembles for over 15 years. He regularly performs with the Rocket City Bones and has also performed with Bone Yard of Brass. He has always enjoyed arranging dramatic music for trombone and brass ensembles. Constellations is his second original work.

  • Saturday, 1:00 p.m. ITF Youth Workshop Final Concert

    Intrada for Trombone Choir provides intermediate trombonists an ensemble work that is both technically approachable and musically satisfying. It offers several traditional elements of brass ensemble writing, such as call and response, chorales, interjections, ritornello, contrasting articulations and dynamics, and antiphonal passages. Though a lot to fit into a small package, the elements come together in a most agreeable way.

       American composer and arranger P. F. (Pete) Strohm (ASCAP) studied composition at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University. He lives and works near Seattle. From his trombone catalogue, the Eastman Trombone Choir has premiered three ensemble works. Trombonists Mark Babbitt, Myles Blakemore, Peter Ellefson, Naomi Wharry, and Eric Wallace have premiered solos. Other recent performances include those by the Szeged Trombone Ensemble, the Colorado State University Trombone Choir, and the Bjergsted Trombone Ensemble.

Friday, 12:30 p.m. Composers Workshop Solo Recital

Ethan Cypress-Angles Completed in 2024, Angles was inspired by the neo classical movement and E. E. Cummings poem "since feeling is first". It follows a modified rondeau form and features both a passacaglia and fugue that utilize 20th century harmonies.

   Originally from Upstate NY, Ethan Cypress is a trombonist and writer. He has served as a copyist & orchestrator for a handful of opera companies across the US. He has performed, arranged & composed music for & alongside a number of prominent jazz & gospel artists including Billy Harper, Shayna Steele & Camille Thurman. Cypress is currently a US military bandsman stationed in Colorado Springs, CO where he performs regularly on trombone and euphonium.

 

Jihang Dai-Trombone Sonata  Written in 2021, Jihang Dai’s Trombone Sonata is in an unusual two-movement structure. The first movement is in sonata form, while the second movement is more free in structure. Mainly developed form the opening melody, the movement goes through various emotional states until it leads to a tranquil ending.

   Originally from Beijing, China, Jihang Dai holds master’s degree in music composition from Syracuse University, where he studied with Loren Loiacono and Nicolas Scherzinger. He is also active as a pianist and a theory educator. His orchestral work “Scherzo” has received honorary mention from the Brusa Foundation in 2024.

 

 Ryan McQuay Meredith-Deserts Apart Quinton Krull, a Trombonist from Las Vegas, and Ryan McQuay Meredith, a composer from Syracuse, met at ITF in 2023. Ryan's home, Syracuse, located in the snow belt of the Northeast, often feels like a desert in the Winter, with blizzards no less oppressive or serene than Quinton's home near the Mojave Desert. This juxtaposition of the two deserts is central to the narrative Ryan wanted to capture in Deserts Apart (2024).

   Ryan McQuay Meredith is a composer, trombonist, environmentalist, and advocate for the music of others. Inspired by nature, visual arts, and technology, his works reflect outdoor experiences. His National Parks Series for trombone choir illustrates five American parks, while West of Nowhere brings Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park to life with wind ensemble. Ryan currently teaches middle school in central New York. When he's not teaching, Ryan explores painting, photography, sculpture, even macramé to connect his art to lived experience.

 

David Miller-Zenith Sonata was inspired by my first time at the International Trombone Festival in 2023. Seeing such a vibrant and talented community for the first time gave me the most intense inspiration I've had to this day, the first draft of the piece was written before I even got home. The piece is dedicated to my dear friend, Connie Smith, who sadly passed away in the summer of 2023.

   David Miller is a passionate composer and bass trombonist studying at Ithaca College. He is rapidly becoming a sought-after composer of solo, chamber, and large ensemble music in a variety of styles. His accolades include the PMEA All-State Composition Award, the International Trombone Association 50th Anniversary Fanfare Competition, the Smadbeck Prize, and the Downey Prize. His mentors include Dr. Sally McCune and Dr. Jorge Grossmann for composition and Dr. Will Porter for trombone.

Saturday, 10:00 a.m. Composers Workshop Choir Concert

John Danziger-Un-Tamed is my interpretation of scenes out of a movie, like fighting scenes, love and drama. If you think about this piece as almost a film score, you might be able to hear the different parts of the “scene”. Seeing how much the music in a real film score affects the listener, I tried to utilize different emotions to evoke an almost primal nature in oneself, wrath, intimidation, love, peace, and heroism.

   John Danziger is a multi-instrumentalist and composer from East Lansing, Michigan. Growing up playing piano at 5, cello in middle school, then joining band in high school, he fell in love with music and teaching. Now, John studies Music Education and Bass Trombone with Professor Kenneth Thompkins, and Composition with Dr. David Biedenbender at Michigan State University. His plans for the future is to continue composing and publishing his compositions and become a collegiate band director.

 

 Nikolas Henderson-Symphony in F Minor: The Antecedent Most trombone works are written for " trombone choir," with all voices serving similar functions across registers. This "trombone symphony" diversifies the roles of the ensemble, designating a few players to provide short melodic material (like an orchestral wind section), then letting the rest fill the texture (like string sections). This version, subtitled "The Antecedent," combines the full symphony's first two movements, arranged to allow the flashier first movement to both open and close the performance.

   After spending a decade trying to master the mathematical arts, Nik pivoted into the world of composition, diving into a second undergraduate education. Still being early in his studies, Nik tries to spread his interests as widely as possible to grow beyond his classical acoustic education as a trombone player. He still carries his research background with him, investigating the integration of technology and mathematical processes with music generation and analysis.

 

 Calista Lee En Jia-Dead Fish Don’t Swim reimagines iconic trombone excerpts from Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in the language of jazz-funk. Scored for six tenor trombones, alto trombone, and tuba, the piece embraces humor as a creative tool. With sly callbacks and infectious rhythms (sure to inspire some foot thumping), it invites listeners to hear the familiar in a fresh, funky light. Because sometimes, music swims best when it doesn't take itself too seriously.

   Calista Lee (b.2006) is a Singaporean composer, pianist, and trombonist. As a trombonist with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra since 2022, she is especially passionate towards enriching the repertoire for wind instruments. Her work has been read by members of the local trombone ensemble Singabones, deepening her interest in collaboration with performers. She plans to study composition and pursue a career scoring music for film in the future.

 

Harold Popp- Bonafyde This five movement work explores a wide range of trombone choir potential. Each movement is its own microcosm. Movement titles indicate performance intent expressed. Dynamics, articulations, and tempi dictate the musical expression. These include changing rhythms and meters, note patterns, and sudden dynamics, as well as moments of poignant sensitivity. Each movement is a cohesive response to a musical idea stemming from human experiences.

   Dr. Harold Popp has spent a lifetime involved with the arts—as composer, trombonist, educator, conductor, author, and editor. Popp served as a professor and administrator of music at six universities, spanning 56 years. His compositions are primarily focused on brass/trombone solo and chamber music and have been performed internationally. As a trombonist, he has performed extensively in a variety of venues.

Isamu Tachihara- HITEN The title of this piece, Hiten (Flying Celestial Beings), refers to the image of heavenly figures from Japanese folklore gracefully soaring through the sky, adorned with flowing feathered robes. This work sonically portrays that elegant and ethereal scene. It is a substantially revised version of a composition I had written previously. The instrumentation is for ten trombones and four percussionists.
   Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts. Sinfonia was premiered by the Tokyo Philharmonic and won the 17th Japan Symphony Foundation Composition Prize. Finalist in the “FINZI ACADEMY COMPETITION” (Italy) and honorable mention at the FIMS Competition (Switzerland). Participated in the 2022 ITF Composers Workshop (USA). Lecturer at Musashino Academia Musicae in composition, harmony, counterpoint, and analysis.