Trombone choir to perform at Recital Hall

The term “choir” typically means singers dressed in some kind of robes or matching attire, standing on risers in a semi-circle belting their hearts out. 

But Jacobs School of Music brass department professor Carl Lenthe has given another definition to the term with the Jacobs Trombone Choir, whose 12 members will perform for the first time this year at 8:30 p.m. today at Recital Hall.

“A trombone choir presents a sumptuous sound that can go from luxurious and soothing to upbeat and jazzy,” Lenthe said.

Associate director and graduate student Sarah Paradis said the size can vary from ensemble to ensemble.

“There really is no limit on how many trombones can play together at once,” she said.

Lenthe has kept the group small since joining the Jacobs faculty in 1998. He said he has worked hard since then to give the ensemble an official Jacobs small ensemble title, which helps students kill two birds with one stone: earning credit hours and gaining performance experience.

“It allows the students to participate for chamber music credit toward their degree requirements,” Lenthe said.

When a significant number of trombones are put together, the sound can be large and powerful.

“It has many timbres,” senior choir member Richard Townes said. “It can be rich, warm and soothing. It can also be dirty, crass and terrifying.”

Due to the trombone choir’s musical flexibility, many musical genres are played by the ensemble. This is partly due to the lack of trombone ensemble music. 

“We tend to study all of our standards and borrow music from other instruments,” Paradis said.

In recent years the number of trombone choirs has grown internationally, she said, and more trombone pieces have come into existence.

“Composers are commissioned to write works for the ensemble, and trombone players even arrange music themselves,” she said.

Lenthe said he chooses the pieces for the choir to perform, and this semester they are focusing on pieces by Johannes Brahms. The ensemble also performs each year at the Jacobs School of Music “Chimes of Christmas” program, after being invited by Singing Hoosiers director Michael Schwartzkopf in 1998.

“I believe that these experiences both motivated and elevated the group,” Lenthe said about the variety of pieces the trombone choir plays.

Townes encouraged students to come to their performance so that they can have a good time and learn a greater appreciation for the trombone.

“The only way that a person would not get something out of our concert is if they don’t come to it,” he said.