Eastman Trombone Choir to perform Oct. 26 in Medina at St. Mary’s

Provided photos: The Eastman Trombone Choir will perform in Medina on Oct. 26 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

Press Release, Orleans Renaissance Group

MEDINA, NY- “Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them.” – Richard Strauss

The Orleans Renaissance Group (ORG) will be bringing the world-renowned Eastman Trombone Choir to Medina for a performance on Oct. 26 in the soaring sanctuary of St. Mary R.C. Church. The ensemble is part of the Eastman School of Music– the music school of the University of Rochester.

“Unlike Richard Strauss, we hope to have a full house both looking and listening to the trombones, and we definitely want to encourage them!” said Chris Busch, ORG.

The Eastman Trombone Choir is under the co-direction of Larry Zalkind, left, and Mark Kellogg.

The Eastman Trombone Choir is under the co-direction of Larry Zalkind and Mark Kellogg, who are among the world’s most accomplished trombonists.

“The Eastman Trombone Choir is looking forward with great anticipation to playing a concert in the beautiful acoustics of St. Mary’s in Medina.” said Mark Kellogg, co-director of the Eastman Trombone Choir. “This group is the oldest, continuously-serving ensemble at the Eastman School and while it has performed across Europe and the United States, the opportunity to connect with audiences right here in Western New York is particularly meaningful.”

Mr. Zalkind, an Associate Professor of Trombone at Eastman, by the age of 17, Larry was studying with Robert Marsteller as a student at the University of Southern California. At USC, Larry double majored in Music Education and Music Performance, earning a master’s degree in Music.

In the fall of 1980 Mr. Zalkind accepted the Trombone Teaching Assistant Position at the University of Michigan and began working with Dennis Smith. In 1981, while pursuing his doctorate in Music Performance, he won the audition to become the Principal Trombonist for the Utah Symphony.

He held this position (simultaneously serving on the faculty at the University of Utah) until 2015, when he accepted the position of Trombone Professor at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Larry performed as Acting Associate Principal Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Mr. Kellogg Mark Kellogg has held the position of principal trombonist of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He is an associate professor of classical and jazz trombone and euphonium at theEastman School of Music.

Mr. Kellogg holds a bachelor’s degree and performer’s certificate from Eastman, where he studied with John Marcellus and Cherry Beauregard.

He was a member of the San Francisco Symphony, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and National Repertory Orchestra. He is also a co-founder of the jazz group Rhythm & Brass. Kellogg has performed with Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Daniels, Mel Tormé, Jeff Tyzik, Gene Bertoncini, Allen Vizzitti, Steve Gadd and others.

The Eastman Trombone Choir was founded in 1941 by Emory Remington, and is highly regarded around the world as one of the best ensembles of its kind.

St. Mary Church has been the site of numerous, world-class concert events presented by ORG over the years, including among others the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, world-renowned quartet Anonymous 4 and internationally acclaimed Irish tenor Ronan Tynan.

The Fredonia Trombone Choir of the SUNY Fredonia School of Music has performed at St. Mary’s Church twice in 2012 and 2014.

Busch, president of ORG, said the concert is generating a lot of exciting interest.

“People are talking about this concert and for good reason,” he said. “This world-renowned and majestic ensemble performing under the soaring vaults of St. Mary Church will be breathtaking. This will be a spectacular and singular concert event.”

The event has been generously underwritten by Medina businessman, Rick Drilling.

“We’re incredibly grateful to Rick for his extremely generous support of not only this concert event, but of our many previous concerts,” Busch said. “His support has made this and many other events possible.”

The concert is set for Saturday, Oct. 26 at St. Mary’s. Doors open at 6 p.m. with concert starting at 7 p.m. Updates can be found on the Orleans Renaissance Group’s Facebook page.

General seating tickets are $20 each and are available for pre-sale now at the English Rose Tea Shoppe, 527 Main Street in Medina (585-798-4410), the Central Business Office at ONE Catholic, 106 South Main Street in Albion (585-589-4243) and at the door the night of the event.