| Don was privileged to grow up in a very musical family and began playing trombone at the age of 12. Always having music around him, he became interested in the bass trombone after hearing recordings of great players such as George Roberts, Edward Kleinhammer, Edward Anderson and Raymond Premru. In the following years he attended many music camps winning numerous awards as a soloist, played in his high school concert and jazz bands, local brass bands and in his senior year at high school was performing with the Mohawk College Jazz Band in Hamilton, Ontario. Don studied music at Toronto's Humber College, the University of Toronto, the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Domain Forget Academy as well as travelling for private studies with prominent trombonists from the Chicago, Pittsburgh, Montreal and Toronto Symphonies. As a bass trombonist he has performed with many orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, the Windsor Symphony, the Thunder Bay Symphony, the Niagara Symphony and Orchestra London. Don is currently bass trombonist with the Mississauga Philharmonic Orchestra in Mississauga Ontario. A position he has held since 1994. Don is also a busy free-lance musician in and around the Greater Toronto area performing in many different ensembles such as the Toronto Wind orchestra, the Jazz Mechanics Big Band, the trombone ensemble Slide Rule and Intrada Brass. In 1997 he founded the trombone trio BrassArts, a professional ensemble devoted to performing music for trombone trio. BrassArts have enjoyed much success since: performing concerts, giving workshops and educational concerts, recording and exploring different and new works for trombone trio. In the past, Don has taught music at the Kingsway College School in Toronto and Pickering College in Newmarket. Currently, he teaches private lessons at schools in the Greater Toronto Area, has a private studio in Mississauga, is Music Director of Peel Brass, is the brass instructor of the Mississauga Youth Orchestra and performs many school visits, clinics and master-classes for young trombonists and brass players. |
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