Not a music performance major, Matt Crozier lands top spot in IU Philharmonic

“He’s so well-rounded. He knows as much about music as he does everything else.”

Junior Brice Brookshire had nothing but great things to say about Matt Crozier, the new principal trombone of the IU Philharmonic Orchestra. Brookshire met Crozier his freshman year at IU in the Marching Hundred trombone section.

“He’s just a genuinely good person,” Brookshire continued. “His passion for music is refreshing.”

Crozier, a junior from Harrison, N.Y., is one of the philharmonic’s youngest principal trombonists. He is also one of the few that is a music education major, rather than a music performance major. He said he began playing trombone in sixth grade band.  With this musical longevity in his arsenal, Crozier took his brass horn a step further this year.

Anyone can audition for the orchestra, from freshmen to doctoral students. And Crozier auditioned for trombone against masters students.

The auditions repertoire was posted a few weeks prior to their date and included four different song excerpts and scales. The audition process is blind, meaning the person auditioning sits behind a curtain, shielded from the three professors who are judging. The professors then assign a number to the musician’s playing, ranging from one to three — one being the best and three being the worst.

After taking his turn behind the curtain, Crozier received all “one”s from the professors.

“It’s unusual that underclassmen even make the orchestra,” he said. “Let alone the principal spot.”

Crozier said he never really chose music as a career.

“Well, music was always easy for me, so I always just assumed I’d do it,” Crozier said. “Both my parents are musicians, so I didn’t really think anyone did anything else.”

When Crozier first came to the Jacobs School of Music, instead of feeling burnt out or intimidated as many students do, he felt energized by the environment and all it had to offer.

“I was always good at trombone,” he said. “And then I got here and thought ‘Woah. I love this.’ It’s usually the opposite for people.”

When making the decision of where to attend school, Crozier said he could have stayed closer to home and chosen New York’s famed Julliard. Choosing IU over Julliard came fairly easy for Crozier, he said. His father studied there pre-college. But when Crozier visited Julliard, he knew it wasn’t what he was looking for in a university.

“My grandpa suggested IU,” Crozier explained. “I checked it out and loved it. It’s the best of both worlds, for music and the big school atmosphere.”

Crozier said that he likes the big school spirit with football and the feel of the campus.  
Crozier has worked with many teachers through the years, including M. Dee Stewart, Peter Ellefson, Carl Lenthe and Joe Alessi, principal trombone of the New York
Philharmonic.

This past summer, Crozier studied with Alessi at his seminar in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Alessi, famous for his very direct and critical teaching methods, had almost nothing to correct in Crozier’s playing.

“He’s famous for being very direct. If you’re out of tune, he will point and tell you you’re out of tune,” Crozier said. “When I played for him, he said ‘I really don’t have much to say. You played that piece really well.’”

This musician’s interests don’t solely lie with orchestral trombone music, however. He also dabbles in drums, guitar, piano and euphonium. Along with orchestral music, Crozier enjoys jazz, funk, and classic rock.

“There is nothing out there that I don’t like. During the day there is a mood for every moment, and the song that fits can be any different genre. Afro-Cuban music is so hip,” Crozier said.

Will Peterson, third-year doctoral student in wind conducting and associate instructor of the Marching Hundred sousaphone section, thinks Crozier is a great fit to be a music educator.

“I think that Matt really exemplifies the all-around good, not only musician, but person that you want to see in a music educator,” Peterson said of Crozier. “He’s balanced himself really well and involved himself in many different areas. He’s the complete package.”

This story was corrected on Sept. 14.