Elite Trombonists To Put On Concert at Glencairn Museum

Ten renowned trombonists from as far away as Brazil will come together Sept. 25 for a concert designed especially for Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn that will feature the favorite selections and arrangements of the ensemble’s founder, the late Glenn Dodson.

The 3 p.m. concert at the , features 10 trombonists from the alumni and teaching ranks of The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The ensemble was founded by retired Philadelphia Orchestra principal trombonist Glenn Dodson of Berwick, Pa. (1931-2007) and took the name “Posaune Decouple,” an adaptation of “Ten Trombones,” for an appearance at Glencairn in 2006. To show the versatility of the instrument, the program featured a progression, starting with a solo performer and advancing to a duo, then trio and continuing to include all 10 players. The musicians came together again for a memorial tribute to Dodson in 2008.

The ensemble performs exclusively at Glencairn, through its affiliation with Lachlan Pitcairn, the seventh of nine children of Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn whose former family home now houses the museum. Pitcairn, a musician himself and prominent supporter of classical music in the region, was a long-time friend of Dodson. 

“The goal and hope of Posaune Decouple is, as Glenn envisioned, to bring the trombone from the back row of the orchestra to the front line in the chamber forum,” said Darrin C. Milling, one of the original members of Posaune and bass trombone principal with Sao Paulo State Symphony Orchestra in Brazil.

In planning the 2006 program, Dodson said, “The ‘Seventy-six Trombones’ image is exactly what I am trying to overcome. It was absolutely great in the setting of ‘The Music Man’ musical. But I have always wished to raise the trombone to the level of chamber music instead of the bombastic image of which it often is thought.”

Posaune Decouple performers are: Joseph Alessi, New York Philharmonic, tenor trombone; Carl Lenthe, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and formerly of Bamberg Symphony in Germany, tenor trombone; Nitzan Haroz, The Philadelphia Orchestra, tenor trombone; Matthew Vaughn, The Philadelphia Orchestra, tenor trombone; Eric Carlson, The Philadelphia Orchestra, tenor trombone; Christopher Clark, “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, tenor trombone; Weston Sprott, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, tenor trombone; M. Dee Stewart, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, formerly with The Philadelphia Orchestra, bass trombone; Blair Bollinger, The Philadelphia Orchestra, bass trombone; and Milling, bass trombone.

The program features eight works by composers Arno Hermann, Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms, Edward Elgar (arranged by Dodson), Franz Biebl, Ludwig v. Beethoven, Richard Wagner and Peter Atherton. Posaune Decouple performed at Glencairn in 2006, with the musical repertoire designed by Dodson, and in 2008, under Alessi’s direction. This year, Lenthe has programmed the repertoire and will conduct various selections, as he has done for each performance.

Admission is $20; $15 for museum members and students with ID.

For additional information, visit www.glencairnmuseum.org. or call Glencairn at 267-502-2600.