Christian Lindberg – Trombone Interview
Welcome to the show notes for Episode #10 of the Trombone Corner podcast. This episode features trombonist, conductor, and composer, Christian Lindberg.
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About Christian Lindberg
In September 2015 Christian Lindberg was voted “THE GREATEST BRASS PLAYER IN HISTORY, by the worlds biggest classical radio station CLASSICFM, and on the 1st of April Christian Lindberg was given “International Classical Music Award 2016” at the Gala Ceremony in in San Sebastian, Spain. Previous winners were Esa-Pekka Salonen (2011), Krzysztof Penerecki (2012). Charles Dutoit (2013), Aldo Ciccolini (2014) and Dmitri Kitajenko (2015).On top of this Christian has just signed a 5 year Music Director contract with Israel Netanya Kibbutz Orchestra, rated by Israeli Council of Art and Culture, side by side with Israel Philharmonic as the best orchestra in the country. Christian Lindberg’s achievements for the trombone can only be compared with those of Paganini for the violin or Liszt for the piano.
Having premiered over 300 works for the trombone (over 90 major concertos) recorded over 70 solo CDs, having an international solo competition created in his name, been voted brass player of the 20th century side by side with Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong, Christian Lindberg is today nothing less than a living legend.
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.
In 2009 Lindberg signed contract as principal conductor with his third orchestra, The Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra (the two previous ones being Nordic Chamber Orchestra 2004-2011 and Swedish Wind Ensemble 2005-2012). Since then he has prolonged his contract twice and their collaboration runs for the moment up to 2017 including major recording projects on BIS (Tchaikovsky Symphonies no 4-6 among other things), a major tour throughout Japan and performances at Beethovenfest, Musikverein and Salzburg Festspielhaus.
Alongside his activities as principal conductor Lindberg has major conducting collaborations with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (performing and recording all the symphonies by Allan Pettersson), Royal Flemish Philharmonic(a major project performing and recording music by Stenhammar), The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (a second major conducting residency in 2016), Nürnberger Symphoniker (various projects including music by Lindberg himself, Allan Pettersson, Grieg, Högberg, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven), The Swedish Chamber Orchestra (music by Lindberg, Schubert, Ginastera, Bizet and Andrea Tarrodi), Ulster Orchestra (music by Lindberg, Dvorak, Nielsen, Grieg and Sibelius), RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (music by Tchaikovsky, Lindberg, Sibelius, and Sandström) and Taipei Symphony Orchestra (Bernstein, Lindberg, Tchaikovsky and Pettersson.
Lindberg also conducts orchestras such as the Nippon Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, ,Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Verdi Orchestra Milano, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie, Extremadura Orchestra, Umeå Symphony Orchestra, Tiroler Symphonieorchester, Het Noord Nederland Orkest, Het Gelders Orkest, Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, Poznan Symphony Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jenaer Philharmonie, Jyväskyllä Symphony Orchestra, Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Euscadi Orchestra, Maggio Fiorentino, Haydn Orchestra Bolzano, Northern Sinfonia, Helsinki Philharmonics, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Cape Philharmonic, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Opera Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, National Orchestra of Brazil, Württembergische Philharmonie, and Tenerife Symphony Orchestra to name a few.
As a composer Lindberg has been constantly busy with commissions since he wrote his first composition Arabenne for Trombone and Strings in 1997-98 as a pure experiment. Orchestras around the world have been queuing up, and he has composed over 50 works on commission from, among others, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Hessische Rundfunk, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Verdi Orchestra Milano, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists, Sion Musik Festival, Nordland Musikfestuke, Vertavo Quartet, Vib’bone Duo, Sergio Carolino and the Wild Gang, Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Bones Apart, Anders Wall Foundation, Hardanger International Music Festival and Share Music Sweden. Future commissions include a trombone concerto for the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, a 30 minute long orchestral piece commissioned by Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, a trumpet concerto commissioned by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Västerås Sinfonietta and a concerto for Evelyn Glennie, Christian Lindberg and orchestra commissioned by the Cheltenham Festival.
Christian Lindberg’s own philosophy regarding his work as a composer is simple: “I do not write in any style whatsoever! I just listen to what my brain and my soul tell me, and what I hear I simply put down on paper. To say anything more about my work would be pretentious nonsense.”
Christian Lindberg Links
Podcast Credits
- Theme Music: The Trombone Choir Arrangements of Jay Friedman, Vol. 1
- Audio Engineer – Preston Shepard at SC Sound Labs
- Cover Art – Frank Gladstone
- Podcast Hosts – Noah Gladstone & John Snell
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.
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 busiest studio and freelance trombonists around. Growing up in Los Angeles he began playing at the age of eight. He tried to prepare for a “real” job, majoring in engineering at LA Valley College, but by the age of nineteen he was on the road with Buddy Rich. He was the youngest trombonist ever to play lead with that band. The next few years found him playing with big band legends such as Harry James, Louis Bellson, Don Ellis, and Lionel Hampton.In the ensuing years, Kaplan’s studio career took off. 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, Phil Collins, Pharell Williams, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Paul McCartney, Harry Styles, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Nirvana, Neil Young, Harry Connick, Lady Gaga, and countless more.
Throughout his career, Alan has performed and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Harry Connick, Boz Scaggs, Cheap Trick, Tony Bennett, Tower of Power, Josh Groban, Michael Jackson, Celine Dionne, Madonna, The Who, Elton John, Spinal Tap, and many, many more.
She’s a singer. She’s a trombone player. She’s a songwriter. She’s a performer.
In between her recording commitments, Logan finds time to share the stage with Alabama Shakes and Meghan Trainor and Pharrell Williams and Josh Groban and Dave Koz and The Commodores and 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 and the Grammys’ Award Show and ABC’s The Goldbergs. She’s 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.
Her title track, LA revealed to the world just how difficult it is to be an artist living in the biggest entertainment town on the planet. She opened up her soul in the song, Understand. She gave us songs that told us how much travel takes its toll and songs that tell us what’s truly important in a world that glorifies superficiality. She even takes us back a few decades with some retro songs that ask us to remember what it was that first captured our imagination on the radio.
Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2006 after 32 years as principal trombonist. Previously, he spent six years as principal with the Toronto Symphony. During that time, he also served as principal trombonist for the Canadian Opera and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., and was a faculty member at the University of Toronto. A native of Philadelphia, he is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Emory Remington.
Bob‘s training included four great teachers, Don Kimble, Jeff Reynolds, Robert Simmergren and Roy Main; they have made all the difference! His professional career began at the age of twenty with the Disneyland Band where he stayed three years. It was a de facto apprenticeship, working day in and day out with 15 experienced professional musicians. Thereafter he stayed busy performing hither and yon in the greater Los Angeles area, including 30 years with Pacific Symphony, 24 years as a founding member of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, 22 seasons with Opera Pacific, 12 years in the Composers Brass Quintet, and of course, a decade or so in Hoyt Bohannon’s garage on Tuesday nights.
Jay Friedman attended Yale University on scholarship and majored in composition at Roosevelt University. 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. He has soloed with the CSO on several occasions, including a concerto by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.
Friedman’s conducting career has included guest appearances with orchestras around the world, including the Orchestra of the Italian Radio (RAI), the Malmo Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s annual donor concerts. In April 2005, he conducted three concerts with the Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome. In March 2006, he conducted the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in a public master class of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony at Symphony Center, and in May 2007 he conducted the RAI orchestra in Italy with Daniel Barenboim as piano soloist.
Martin appeared as teacher and soloist on festivals such as the International Trombone Festival, Korean Trombone Symposium, Dutch Bass Trombone Open, Festival do Campos Jordao Brazil, Costa Rica Trombone Festival, Thailand Trombone Festival, Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival, Sesc International Music Festival Pelotas Brazil, IPV Festival, Lätzsch Trombone Festival, Curso Trombon de Valga in Spain amongst others and taught masterclasses at major universities in USA, Europe, Australia and Asia.
David Rejano is the principal trombone of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra since 2016. Before that, he served as Principal Trombone with the Orquestra Sinfonica de Navarra from 2002 to 2007, Principal Trombone with the Orquestra del Gran Teatro del Liceo de Barcelona (Barcelona Opera House) from 2007 to 2010, and Principal Trombone with the Münchner Philharmoniker from 2010 to 2016.
David Rejano (1982) was born in Badajoz /Spain/, and initially studied music at the Conservatory in Madrid. Then he moved to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, with professor Gilles Millière, where he graduated with the “Diplôme de Formation Supérieur – Mention très bien à l’unanimité” and the “Prix Spécial du Jury”. He was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra -EUYO- and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra -WEDO- (with Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez).