NEWS

THE NEWS

BY BARNEY MEDLAND Well-deserved retirement for Frank Mathison After a legendary 74-year career, Frank Mathison has decided, at the age of 93, that it’s time to retire from playing. Frank hails from Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire. At the age of 12, he started out playing cornet in The Lindley Band. At 19, while doing National Service, Frank was offered a choice between a bassoon and an old G Trombone, he opted for the latter and so embarked on a distinguished career.

Frank played bass trombone at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for 13 years, before being recommended to the London Symphony Orchestra by Jascha Horenstein. He spent 30 years at the LSO, a key figure in the great brass section that included the likes of Denis Wick, John Fletcher, Maurice Murphy, Eric Crees, Patrick Harrild, and Ian Bousfield. He left the LSO in 1993, having recorded many of John William’s most famous film scores and having played under many of the 20th century’s greatest conductors. On retirement, George Solti presented Frank with a crystal goblet.

After leaving the LSO, Mathison continued to play, including in brass bands in his home county of Yorkshire. Everyone at the BTS would like to wish Frank a happy and well-deserved retirement.

Bona-afide win inaugural RPS Philip Jones Prize The Royal Philharmonic Society has launched the Philip Jones Brass Prize, which awards £2,500 to ‘an outstanding individual brass player or brass ensemble of up to 5 players.’ The award is open to brass players of any nationality between the ages of 18–30, and ‘aims to recognise new talents arising who, in their own way, may proceed to make a positive difference to brass playing in the UK.’

Trombone quartet Bone-afide have won the inaugural prize. The group’s winning programme included Debussy’s Trois Chansons, Strauss’s Three Mӓnnerchӧre and Apon’s First Quartet. The prize, provided by the RPS and Philip Jones’ widow Ursula, will go towards the group’s recording projects and aid the commissioning of new works and arrangements.

Bone-afide have said they ‘feel very fortunate to have been offered this opportunity, both to further develop our ideas and also to be associated with the RPS. This prize will bring us one step closer to achieving our long-held goals: to rewrite the trombone quartet genre, showcase it to a wide and diverse audience and defy any stereotypes surrounding the instrument.’

In other news for the up-and-coming quartet, they have successfully auditioned for the Tunnel Trusts Awards Scheme, which supports young artists. The scheme is supporting six concerts in Scotland that the quartet will be doing in November 2022. For more information, visit Bone-afide’s WEBSITE.

RSM Launch The Philip and Ursula Jones Fund The Royal Society of Musicians is launching a new fund to provide ‘vital support to brass musicians across the UK whose lives have been affected by accident, illness, stress or anxiety.’ The Philip and Ursula Jones Fund has launched this year, the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. More information about the fund or the work of The Royal Society of Musicians can be found by emailing enquiries@rsmgb. org or by visiting the RSM’s WEBSITE.

New concerto première from Peter Moore Peter Moore has premièred the new Trombone Concerto by Dani Howard. The première took place on 17 June with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. It was the first RLPO concert to take place under the baton of Domingo Hindoyan as their new Chief Conductor Designate.

The première was a roaring success with critics and audiences alike, with The Times calling it ‘an instant classic’ and the Liverpool Echo praising Dani Howard’s ‘gloriously filmic’ score and Peter Moore’s ‘incredible agility’ as soloist.

Callum Au scoops Parliamentary Jazz Award Songs and Stories, the new album from Callum Au with vocalist Claire Martin, has won The Parliamentary Jazz Awards Album of the Year. Callum spoke to us in April 2020, shortly before the album was released. You can read the interview HERE.

Death of Curtis Fuller Curtis Fuller, leading trombonist of the be-bop era, has died aged 88. Fuller was a key performer with the superstar names of ‘50s and ‘60s jazz, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, ‘Cannonball’ Adderly, and Count Basie.

Born in Detroit in 1932, Fuller was an orphan by the age of 10 and lived at an orphanage throughout his time at high school. While a teenager, a nun at the orphanage took Fuller to a concert by the Illinois Jacquet Jazz Orchestra, which included the great J.J. Johnson. The young Fuller was immediately inspired to become a jazz trombonist. In 2007, he recalled, ‘I saw symphony orchestras, [but] I didn’t see anybody like myself, that’s why when I saw J.J. … I said, I think I can do this’.

In the fast paced ’50s and ’60s bop style, Fuller, on his trombone, equalled the most famous saxophonists and trumpet players. He is a core member of the ensemble on one of the great albums of the age, Blue Train, by John Coltrane. On the title track he performs a prominent solo.

In 1967, after the deaths of both his sister and John Coltrane, his supreme colleague, Fuller retired early from performing to take up a desk job. He was encouraged to pick up his trombone again by none other than Dizzy Gillespie, and went on to perform with Gillespie, Kai Winding, Woody Shaw, and as a member of Count Basie’s Band in the late ’70s.

Curtis DuBois Fuller died on 8 May 2021, he leaves behind a great legacy of recordings and has inspired generations of jazz musicians. New pastures for orchestral and opera players There are changes afoot at the London Symphony Orchestra and Welsh National Opera. After more than 20 years with the orchestra James Maynard is leaving the LSO and Chris Augustin is moving on from his post as sub-principal trombone at WNO to take up a position in the band of Wicked in the West End.

PhD success for RNCM student Dr Kerry Baldwin has been awarded a PhD in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music, investigating the influence of Berio’s Sequenza V on trombone repertoire and technique.

Gary MacPhee joins faculty at RNCM Sub Principal Trombone at the BBC Philharmonic, Gary MacPhee, has joined the teaching faculty at the Royal Northern College of Music. Before taking up his seat in the BBC Phil. Gary freelanced with many top orchestras in the UK and internationally, and was one of the UK’s most prominent brass band trombone players, holding seats in the likes of the Black Dyke Band and the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Gary’s solo work has seen him commission new works in the UK and Scandinavia, with solo performances broadcast on channels including BBC Radio 3.

New Appointments at RBC The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has made two new appointments to its trombone faculty. Helen Vollam will be joining the department as the new visiting artist in trombone and Daniel West will be joining as the new tutor of bass trombone. Commenting on the appointments, Amos Miller, head of brass at RBC, said ‘I am absolutely delighted to welcome these two wonderful musicians to our faculty. They are stellar musicians and exceptional teachers, and will be a great inspiration to our students.’ The brass department at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire have recently been busy producing this recording of a new piece by Ryan Linham: STAYCATION

CELEBRATION! ◆