Steve Shires is best known in the brass world as the founder of the S. E. Shires Company, crafter of custom trombones and trumpets.  His passion for designing and building brass instruments grew from his love of playing the trombone.  Steve received his undergraduate degree in trombone performance from the University of Iowa, where he studied with John Hill and George Krem.  A true trombonist, he skipped theory class to apprentice as a brass repair technician at West Music Company in Iowa City and was soon developing his craft by converting old small bore tenor trombones into  alto trombones. While continuing his trombone studies in Chicago with legendary Chicago symphony brass section members Arnold Jacobs, Edward Kleinhammer, Frank Crisafulli, and Jay Friedman, he worked for the Schilke Music Company, learning the art of spinning brass instrument bells, as he absorbed the high standards of quality that Schilke represents.  In 1986, Steve and his wife Cathy relocated to Boston.  It was there that he gained much of his knowledge of the Horn, working for Osmun Brass Instruments, the nationally respected shop for horn repairs and restorations. It was here that Steve gained the invaluable experience of rebuilding valves, cutting bells, and restoring Geyer, Kruspe, Conn, and Paxman horns.

 Steve founded the S. E. Shires Company in 1995, and was president of the company for nearly 20 years, until its recent purchase by the Eastman Music Company.  In addition to running day to day operations, Steve was the primary bell spinner.  During Steve's tenure, The S.E. Shires company was one of the few instrument makers that  spun its own bells, made its own valves, drew its own tubing, and used computer controlled lathes to machine all of its parts. 

In 2015 Steve and his wife moved to their new home in Vermont, where Steve combined his vast  experience designing and building world-class trombones and trumpets with his years as a horn technician to create the ultimate horn. He crafted his first Geyer model horn in 2017 and has been improving on the designs since then. The Series II Stephens horn, featuring a unique custom wrap that marries the best qualities of the Geyer and Schmidt models was introduced in 2019.

Learn more about Stephen Shires at www.stephenshorns.com

Learn more about The Brass Ark at www.brassark.com 

Learn more about Bob Reeves Brass at www.bobreeves.com 

Interested in the Reeves - Brass Ark trombone mouthpieces? Buy them online at www.trombonemouthpiece.com 

Timothy Higgins was appointed to the position of Principal Trombone of the San Francisco Symphony by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2008. He was previously the acting Second Trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.  Mr. Higgins, a Houston native, has a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University and has performed with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Aspen Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Sun Valley Summer Symphony, Washington National Opera, and Baltimore Symphony.  His principal teachers have been Michael Mulcahy (Chicago Symphony), Michael Warny (Houston Grand Opera), and Royce Landon (Des Moines, Iowa).  He has participated in music festivals with the Roundtop Music Festival, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center.

Along with a busy orchestra career, Timothy Higgins is a sought after arranger of music.  He was the sole arranger of the National Brass Ensemble's Gabrieli recording. Additionally, he has arranged music for CT3 Trombone Quartet, National Brass Quintet, Bay Brass, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Brass Ensemble.  Timothy Higgins has also composed works for brass instruments in solo and chamber settings. His arrangements and compositions have been performed by the Washington Symphonic Brass, the Bay Brass, the San Francisco Symphony brass section, the Chicago Symphony brass section, the Los Angeles Philharmonic brass section, and numerous university brass ensembles. His arrangements and original compositions are available through his publishing company, 415Music.

As a teacher, Timothy been a faculty member of the Pokorny Seminar since 2012, and is currently on faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. He has also led masterclasses in Japan, China, Canada and the United States, including classes at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, the New World Symphony, Vanderbilt University, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School of Music.

In 2005, Timothy won the Robert Marsteller Solo trombone competition, as well as the ITA Trombone Quartet competition with CT3.  While attending the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Higgins was awarded the Grace B. Upton Award for Outstanding Fellow. In 2013, Timothy released his solo CD, Stage Left.

Learn more about Timothy Higgins at www.415music.com.

The show notes for this episode are at www.bobreeves.com/blog/timothy-higgins-trombone-interview/.

This podcast is sponsored by The Brass Ark (www.brassark.com) and Bob Reeves Brass (www.bobreeves.com). 

Christian Lindberg was voted "THE GREATEST BRASS PLAYER IN HISTORY" by the world's biggest classical radio station CLASSICFM.  Christian has premiered over 300 works for the trombone (over 90 major concertos), recorded over 70 solo CDs, has an international solo competition created in his name, and been voted brass player of the 20th century side by side with Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong.

On top of his unrivaled career as a trombonist Lindberg has now also embarked on a highly successful conducting career, and the near future includes major conducting engagements in Musikverein, Suntory Hall, at Beethovenfest, in Salzburg Festspielhaus, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Meistersingerhalle, Nürnberg and National Centre for the Performing Arts (The Giant Egg) in Beijing with orchestras such as Nippon Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Irish National Philharmonic and Ulster Orchestra to name a few. 

Learn more about Christian Lindberg at https://www.tarrodi.se/cl/.

Jack Schatz, an in-demand New York City–based trombonist and tubist, has played in numerous Broadway shows, including The Phantom of the Opera, My Favorite Year, Damn Yankees, Hello Dolly!, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Side Show, Little Me, Flower Drum Song, Wonderful Town, A Chorus Line, Billy Elliott: The Musical, Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway, and Nice Work If You Can Get It. He can also be heard on recordings ranging from Barbara Cook's All I Ask of You (DRG, 1999) and Jazz Takes on Joni Mitchell (Arkadia Jazz, 1999) to Chakra (Plastic Sax, 2013) and Noah (Nonesuch, 2014).

Leonhard Paul is the trombonist and bass trumpeter in the world-famous Mnozil Brass and the Wieder-Gansch-Paul Trio. Originally from Vienna, Austria, Leonhard received diplomas in pedagogy studies and trombone studies from the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He went on to receive a degree in jazz trombone from the Conservatory of Music Vienna where he studied under Erich Kleinschuster.

Since 2005, Leonhard has been a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna-MDW where he teaches chamber music, period music (sackbut), and popular music.

Besides his busy schedule with the Mnozil Brass, Leonhard has also performed on sackbut with the Wiener Akademie, Concentus Musicus Wien, and Tonus and on trombone with Salonorchester Alhambra and Die Eiserne Zeit among others.

Alan Kaplan has long been one of the top studio trombone players in Los Angeles. His recording credits vary vastly from Marvin Gaye to Johnny Mathis to Madonna to Placido Domingo to Sarah Vaughan to Oingo Boingo to Whitney Houston to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Lady Gaga, and countless more. He has played on the scores for nearly 1000 movies and thousands of television episodes. He was a regular member of the staff bands on the Merv Griffin, Joan Rivers, and Star Search Shows. Several times in the last few years, Alan has been in the orchestra on the Academy Awards. He also was in the band for the Jerry Lewis Telethon for over thirty years. At 19, Alan joined the Buddy Rich Big Band becoming the bands youngest lead trombone ever. The next few years found him playing with big band legends such as Harry James, Louis Bellson, Don Ellis, and Lionel Hampton. Learn more about Alan at www.alankaplan.org.

She's a singer. She's a trombone player. She's a songwriter. She's a performer. It would have been a lot easier if Aubrey Logan would have just picked one. But she's never been one to be pigeon-holed. She lives her life outside the box and that makes her difficult to define. And that's okay with her because she purposely defies definition. Her Top 5 debut album in 2017 helped establish her as one of the premier young singer-instrumentalists in the country. Her participation in Dave Koz's #1 album, Summer Horns, helped cement her position. But it was her own #1 album in 2019 that really helped Aubrey Logan become a household name with music aficionados around the world. Because it was that album, Where the Sunshine is Expensive, that showed the depth of songwriting that she's capable of. 

In between her recording commitments, Logan finds time to share the stage with artists such as Alabama Shakes, Meghan Trainor, Pharrell Williams, Josh Groban, Dave Koz, The Commodores and The Boston Pops at venues as diverse as Ronnie Scott's famous jazz club in London to the expansive Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. She's appeared on Jimmy Kimmel, the Grammys' Award Show, and ABC's The Goldbergs. Aubrey has recorded a duet with her childhood hero, Gloria Estefan. She's won multiple awards at the Montreux Jazz Festival. She's beloved by not just the dedicated fans of Postmodern Jukebox, but she considers the creator, Scott Bradlee, and her colleagues within the collective her true friends. And she loves performing. But it's in her writing that we find out who Aubrey Logan really is. Learn more about Aubrey Logan at www.aubreylogan.com.

Ralph Sauer retired from the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2006 after 32 years as principal trombonist. Previously, he spent six years as principal with the Toronto Symphony as well as with the Canadian Opera and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. A native of Philadelphia, he is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Emory Remington. Mr. Sauer has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, including premieres of concertos by Kazimierz Serocki and Augusta Read Thomas. He has given masterclasses and recitals throughout Europe, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and the United States, and has appeared at the Stratford, Marlboro, Aspen, and Pacific summer music festivals. He is a founding member of Summit Brass. Recent activities include performing as guest principal with the Malmö (Sweden) Symphony Orchestra, teaching at the Malmö Academy of Music, and leading masterclasses at various American universities. He continues to add to his catalog of more than 300 transcriptions for brass instruments.

Bass trombonist Robert Sander's training included four great teachers, Don Kimble, Jeff Reynolds, Robert Simmergren and Roy Main. His professional career began with the Disneyland Band, which provided a great learning opportunity that developed into a long, established career in the Los Angeles area. Bob performed for 30 years with the Pacific Symphony, 24 years as a founding member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, 12 years in the Composers Brass Quintet, and a decade or so in Hoyt Bohannon's garage on Tuesday nights. He has played on a freelance basis for 45 years; including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, hundreds of motion picture and television scores, and in theater, ballet and opera pits. He has been a member of the Bill Watrous Refuge West Band, the Jack Sheldon Orchestra, the Jimmy Cleveland Orchestra and did two tours subbing with the west coast iteration of the Toshiko Akioshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band. He is presently retired from low brass performance, serves as president of Local 7, American Federation of Musicians, and has taught trombone at California State University, Fullerton for more than three decades; where he co-founded (with Jeannie Little and Alex Iles) Trombone Day in 2004. Bob is a Greenhoe Artist.

Jay Friedman is principal trombone for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. After four years with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and two years with the Florida Symphony, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and was appointed principal trombone in 1964. When not playing trombone, Jay has also appeared extensively as a conductor, becoming Music Director of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest in 1995, having served as Music Director of the River Cities Philharmonic, and Resident Conductor of the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Italian Radio (RAI), the Malmo Symphony, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome. Friedman has also prepared and published numerous transcriptions of orchestral and classical music for brass ensemble, most frequently trombone choir. Learn more about Jay Friedman at www.jayfriedman.net.