We are especially pleased to welcome back Doug Yeo as soloist. In addition to being a superb musician he is also a great teacher.
Recognized worldwide as a leading low brass performer, teacher, scholar, and author, Douglas Yeo was bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony from 1985-2012. Before coming to Boston, he was a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a free-lance musician in New York City, and a high school band director. From 2012-2016 he served as Professor of Trombone at Arizona State University and has also been on the faculties of New England Conservatory of Music, Boston University, and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. He received his Bachelor of Music degree cum laude from Wheaton College, Illinois (1976)—where he studied trombone with Edward Kleinhammer (Bass Trombonist of the Chicago Symphony, 1940-1985)—and his master’s degree from New York University (1979)—where he was the graduate teaching assistant for the NYU Band. He was appointed to the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music faculty as Guest Lecturer of Trombone in 2019.
In 2014, Douglas Yeo was the recipient of the International Trombone Association’s highest honor, the ITA Award, given to him “in recognition of his distinguished career and in acknowledgement of his impact on the world of trombone performance.” He has written dozens of book chapters and articles for many publications and is the author of The One Hundred: Essential Works for the Symphonic Bass Trombonist (Encore Music Publishers) and co-author (with Edward Kleinhammer) of Mastering the Trombone (Ensemble Publications). His most recently published book is Serpents, Bass Horns and Ophicleides at the Bate Collection (Oxford University Press). Presently, he is at work on books to be published by University of Illinois Press, Oxford University Press, and Rowman & Littlefield. International Music, G. Schirmer, Southern Music, De Haske Music, and Sarastro Music publish his many arrangements of music for trombones and other wind instruments. His instructional DVD and six solo recordings—which include Proclamation, recorded with Britain’s Black Dyke Band, Cornerstone, and album of devotional solos with Scripture readings by Bill Pearce, and Fratres, a recording of bass trombone duets with Gerry Pagano, bass trombonist of the Saint Louis Symphony—have received critical acclaim. He is also the scriptwriter and on-air host of Arizona Encore, a radio program produced by Classical Arizona PBS and broadcast weekly on KBAQ-FM, Phoenix, and is in demand as a performer on historical instrument including serpent, ophicleide, and bass sackbut with both period instrument and modern orchestras.
As a teacher, Douglas Yeo has given master classes and recitals on five continents and has held residencies around the world including the International Trombone Festival (six times), the Banff Center (Canada), the Hamamatsu International Wind Instrument Academy and Festival (eight times) and the Nagoya Trombone Festival (Japan), the International Trombone and Tuba Festival (Beijing), and the Dutch Bass Trombone Open (Holland). From 1998-2008 he was music director of the New England Brass Band, leading the band to two North American Brass Band Association Championship titles in its section and recording five CDs in Symphony Hall, Boston. These included The Light of the World, and Be Glad Then, America, which was named the 2007 NABBA recording of the year. With the Arizona State University Desert Bones Trombone Choir, he recorded two albums, including Of Grandeur, Grace, and Glory, the first recording ever made at ASU by an instrumental studio ensemble. As a guest conductor and clinician with bands and orchestras around the world, he has worked with dozens of high school, collegiate, and professional groups, was recently conductor of the North Carolina Christian School Association All State Honor Band and conducted the University of Washington Wind Ensemble and Concert Band in concert. His website, yeodoug.com (1996), was the first site on the Internet devoted to the trombone, and his blog, thelasttrombone.com—Occasional thoughts on Life, Faith, and the Trombone—was launched in 2016. Douglas Yeo is an International YAMAHA Performing artist and has worked closely with YAMAHA in the design of the YAMAHA 822-G bass trombone and mouthpiece that he plays.