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Jim Pugh is a distinguished trombonist, composer,
and educator. The inspiring virtuosity and wonderful versatility he has demonstrated during the course of his career has caused
Jim to be often honored as the "musician's musician". Whether he is performing as a concerto soloist in a symphonic
setting, recording and touring with legendary artists in the fields of classical, jazz, & rock, or bringing forth his
own exciting new compositions that expand the role of brass in contem¬porary music, his creativity knows no boundaries.
The early years:
Jim began studying piano at age five and trombone
at age ten. After attending Duquesne University and graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Jim toured extensively with
the Woody Herman Band and with Chick Corea before deciding to settle down and make New York City his home.
As a performer and recording artist:
Jim became New York's top-call freelance trombonist
for film scores, records, and music for television and radio advertising: over the past thirty-years he has lent his special
talent to more than four thousand recording sessions.
His trombone can be heard in collaboration with leading classical and popular artists and orchestras
such as Yo-Yo Ma, Steely Dan, Eos, Concordia, St. Luke’s Orchestra, André Previn, Paul Simon, Barbara Streisand,
Tony Bennett, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, and Frank Sinatra.
Jim has been called on to add his sound to feature film soundtracks including
A League of Their Own, When Harry Met Sally, and Meet Joe Black; and on hit Broadway cast recordings City of Angels, Fosse
and Victor/Victoria.
In 2003
Jim “re-premiered” the Nathaniel Shilkret: Trombone Concerto to a sold-out audience at Carnegie Hall
with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops Orchestra. This mid-twentieth century masterpiece, originally written for Tommy
Dorsey, will be heard in its first recording, along with Jim's own Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
and Jeff Tyzik's Trombone Concerto, on his CD, "X-Over Trombone", released by Albany Records (TROY926).
Jim Pugh is the only recipient of the National Academy
of Recording Arts & Sciences Virtuoso Award for Tenor trombone, awarded after being voted Tenor Trombone MVP by the New
York recording community for five years.
As a composer:
Jim's
original music and arrangements can be heard on National Public Radio, in film scores, on "jingles", and on record.
His composition, Lunch with Schrödinger's Cat, received a Lincoln Center premier in 1989 by Marin Alsop and the Concordia
Chamber Orchestra. Jim premiered his Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra in May 1992 with the Williamsport Symphony. It received
its New York premier in March 2000 with Joseph Alessi as soloist and Leonard Slatkin conducting the New York Philharmonic
and the piano reduction version has been recorded by Peter Ellefson, Professor of Trombone at Indiana University. A founding
member of the Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble, several of Jim’s compositions can be heard on their recent CD entitled "The
Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble Plays The Music of James Pugh and Daniel Schnyder", available on the Signum label.
As an educator:
Jim is currently on faculty at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to his appointment at UIUC, he has taught at SUNY-Purchase College, the University of the Arts
(Philadelphia) and at New York University. He appears frequently at schools throughout the country as a guest artist/clinician.
Many of these clinics/concerts are made possible through the help of the S.E. Shires Company.
In the field of instrument development:
Jim has been involved
with the recent developments in the Shires small bore tenor trombone and worked closely with Dave Monette in the development
of the Monette TS11 and TS6 tenor trombone mouthpieces. He endorses both of these products and plays Shires trombones
and Monette mouthpieces exclusively.
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