Biography
Blair Bollinger is the Bass Trombonist of the Philadelphia
Orchestra. He joined the Orchestra at age 23 - the youngest
trombonist
in any major American orchestra at that time.
As a soloist, Mr. Bollinger has performed with The Philadelphia
Orchestra, The Atlanta Symphony and The Savannah (GA) Symphony. He
has
been a guest artist at international and domestic trombone
conferences. Mr. Bollinger has performed recitals and given master
classes in Brazil, Chile, China, Holland, Israel, Japan, Poland and
throughout the United States. As a student, he won the 1986
Philadelphia Orchestra Senior Student Competition, and remains the
only trombonist to win this competition since it began in 1934 as
well
as the only bass trombone soloist ever with the Philadelphia
Orchestra.
His recordings include a solo disc, Fancy Free, for d'Note
Records, hailed by American Record Guide as "The recording I've been
waiting for ... an amazing display of Bollinger's virtuoso skills."
Other recordings are Four of a Kind; a trombone quartet disc, and a
Gabrieli disc with the Canadian Brass. His arrangements of music for
trombone are published by Ensemble Publications in New York and
Alphonse Leduc in Paris. With Four of a Kind, Mr. Bollinger has
toured Japan and been featured in several trombone conferences. Their
new CD should be released in Spring 2003.
Mr. Bollinger is a 1986 graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music
where he studied with Charles Vernon and Glenn Dodson. He is now on
faculty at Curtis and Temple University. In addition to teaching
private lessons, he conducts brass and percussion ensembles and
coaches chamber music. He has spent recent summers performing in the
Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and conducting and teaching at
the Bar Harbor Brass Week in Maine.
