479-575-6491 cms@uark.edu

2024 Arkansas Trombone Workshop

The Arkansas Trombone Workshop aims to celebrate everything trombone with workshops, master classes, performances, demonstrations, and a high school solo competition. Featured performances will be held by the RAZORBONES, Dr. Cory Mixdorf (U of A trombone professor), and guest artists Josh Bynum, Michael Burner, and Austin Westjohn.

Event Details

Audience

The event is geared for anyone who loves the trombone, but primarily high school students, students from other colleges and adults who wish to learn more about the trombone. The solo competition, however is open only to current juniors and seniors in high school who wish to be a music major in college.

Date

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Times

8:30 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.

Location

Faulkner Performing Arts Center (FPAC)
U of A Campus
Map & Parking Information

Fee

$25 for early registration, until February 10.
$45 after February 10 and at the door.

Registration

Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover Card are accepted.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds are not available for cancellations. However, substitutions are welcome. Notify cms@uark.edu of any substitute attendees by February 20, 2024.

High School Solo Competition

See bottom of page for details.

Meet the Faculty

Josh Bynum

Professor of Trombone
University of Georgia

Biography

Hailed for his “inspiring energy, clear musical conviction, and warm lyrical tone” (International Trombone Association Journal), Josh Bynum keeps an active schedule balancing roles as educator, soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral trombonist. In addition to serving as Professor of Trombone at the University of Georgia, a position he has held since 2010, Josh spends his summer as Trombone Artist / Faculty for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and is an Artist & Clinician for the Edwards Instrument Company.

Josh performs regularly as a first-call substitute with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and was contracted to serve as second trombonist for the entire 2015- 16 season. Highlights with the ASO include two commercial recordings featuring the music of Jonathan Leshnoff and Christopher Theofanidis, as well as a sold-out Carnegie Hall performance of Johannes Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in celebration Robert Shaw’s legacy. Bynum is also a member of the IRIS Orchestra, under the direction of Michael Stern, and enjoys performing with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, and Atlanta Ballet Orchestra.

Josh has given clinics and featured performances at the American Trombone Workshop, International Trombone Festival, and Georgia Music Educators Association Conference. He has also been an invited artist and lecturer at various workshops and universities across the country, and has given consortium premiere performances of several new works for trombone and wind ensemble. His solo CD Catalyst was the recipient of the UGA Creative Research Medal in Arts & Humanities. His contemporary chamber group the [MOD]ular Ensemble is featured on the album New Cartography, performing the music of Peter Van Zandt Lane.

He holds degrees from Temple University, the University of Iowa, and Jacksonville State University, is the editor for the ITA Journal’s Pedagogy Corner column and serves on the ITA Pedagogy Advisory Council. His research interests include concepts of great section playing and creative problem solving in the practice room.

Josh and wife Heather live in Athens, GA with their dog Dunkin, and enjoy all the perks of “college town” life.

Michael Burner

Staff Sergeant
U.S. Army Ceremonial Band

Biography

SSG Michael Burner joined The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in April 2020. A native of Rogers, AR, he studied at the University of Arkansas, and the Mannes School of Music.

Before his position with “Pershing’s Own,” Burner was a freelance musician in New York City, where he performed with the Metropolitan Opera, New England Symphonic Ensemble, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York, along with performances of Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. Additionally, Burner was a member of the Arkansas Philharmonic for four seasons, and has performed as a soloist with the University of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and New Music Ensemble. His teachers and mentors have included Weston Sprott, Demian Austin, Nicholas Schwartz, Gerald Sloan, Cory Mixdorf, and David Finlayson.

Visit the The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band page

Austin Westjohn

Staff Sergeant
U.S. Army Ceremonial Band

Biography

SSG Austin Westjohn, originally from Conway, AR, joined The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” in 2018. Westjohn holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Harding University and a Master of Music in trombone performance from Baylor University. He has been recognized as a soloist on both national and international platforms. As a student, he was the grand prize winner of the Stella Boyle Smith Young Artist Competition, performing subsequently with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Westjohn also won the Texas State Trombone Symposium Solo Competition and was named a finalist in the International Trombone Association’s solo competitions for three consecutive years. Currently an active freelancer, he has played with many orchestras, including the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and Reading Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. In 2019, he became principal trombonist of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra. Outside of practicing, performing, or teaching music, Westjohn enjoys all things outdoors, exploring new places, being involved with church and in ministry, and spending time with his wife.

Visit the The U.S. Army Ceremonial Band page

Dr. Cory Mixdorf

Associate Professor of Trombone

Biography

Dr. Cory Mixdorf is thrilled to be a part of the distinguished faculty at the University of Arkansas. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa as well as Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees in trombone performance from Indiana University.

While maintaining a strong studio, Dr. Mixdorf sustains a regular schedule as a guest artist and clinician on the national and international levels. In addition to frequent solo recital tours, his most recent endeavors include: presenting and performing at the 2018 and 2016 International Trombone Festivals at the University of Iowa and The Juilliard School, respectively, recurring performances at the American Trombone Workshop, touring Germany and recording a CD with the brass ensemble, Eurobrass and traveling to the Universidade de Brasilia where he was invited to solo with the Trombones Sociedade Anônima and give a master class to the University’s trombone students. Dr. Mixdorf was also fortunate to have been selected as a fellow in the 2011 Alessi Seminar in Tuscaloosa, AL. Dr. Mixdorf is also a member of the Blue Ridge Trombone Quartet, a group that tours frequently and has most recently performed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse with the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” at the 2019 American Trombone Workshop in Washington D.C.

Outside of his collegiate duties, Dr. Mixdorf enjoys performing with several area ensembles. He is the current Principal Trombonist of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra and plays regularly with the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Before coming to Arkansas, he served as the Acting Second Trombonist with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and has also performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra Augusta, the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra and the Georgia Brass Band, a group with which he recorded the album, A Christmas Festival.

While attending Indiana University, he held the positions of Principal and Second Trombone in the Columbus, IN Philharmonic from 2006-2009. Other orchestral experience includes performances with the New World Symphony in Miami, FL, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Evansville Philharmonic. He has appeared as a soloist with the Indiana University Symphonic Band where he performed Richard Peaslee’s Arrows of Time. Dr. Mixdorf has also toured with the Mr. Jack Daniel’s Silver Cornet Band.

Before his appointment at the University of Arkansas, Dr. Mixdorf served as Assistant Professor of Trombone at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA, adjunct instructor of brass at Vincennes University, associate instructor at Indiana University, and adjunct instructor of trombone at St. Ambrose University.

His principal teachers include Peter Ellefson, M. Dee Stewart, Nancy Vogt, D. Paul Pollard, Bruce Tychinski and Brad Edwards. Dr. Mixdorf is a Greenhoe Performing Artist.

When not playing trombone, Dr. Mixdorf spends every minute possible with his beloved wife Elizabeth and children, Miles, Madelyn, Mason, Meyer, and Montgomery.

Schedule

All events held in Faulkner Performing Arts Center.

8:30 – 9:00 A.M.

Registration & Exhibits

9:00 – 9:45 A.M.

Warm Up/Routine Clinic with Dr. Joshua Bynum

10:00 – 11:30 A.M.

SSG Burner & SSG Westjohn Performance/Masterclass/Clinic on Military Musician Careers

11:30 A.M – 12:15 P.M.

Lunch On-Site (provided for all participants)

12:15 – 1:00 P.M.

Mixdorf/Bynum Recital

1:15 – 2:00 P.M.

All-Participant Trombone Ensemble Rehearsal

2:00 – 2:45 P.M.

Solo Competition

2:45 – 4:00 P.M.

Bynum Masterclass

4:15 – 5:00 P.M.

RAZORBONES Recital with Participant Ensemble Finale
     free and open to the public

Competition

 

Open to current high school juniors and seniors who wish to major in music at the University of Arkansas

  • Finalist scholarship awards are as follows:
    • 1st place: $6,000/yr
    • 2nd place: $5,000/yr
    • 3rd place: $4,000/yr
    • For out-of-state finalists, scholarships include a minimum 70% out-of-state tuition waiver
    • Awards contingent upon:
      • Acceptance into the U of A
      • Maintained university GPA of 2.75
      • Faculty approval
      • Subject to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 516.0
  • Repertoire
    • Tenor Trombonists
      • For All-State auditions, most regional states include at least one etude from the Melodious Etudes for Trombone book by Bordogni/Rochut (Carl Fischer Music, publisher). Using the most current edition of the book (which includes piano accompaniment pdfs), record one of your All-State etudes with piano. You can purchase the book at hickeys.com, item #086846.
    • Bass Trombonists
      • Record etude number 2 from 20 Etudes for Bass Trombone by Lew Gillis (Southern Music Company, publisher) with the piano accompaniment found here. You can purchase the book at hickeys.com, item #001516.
  • Submission Requirements:
    • Submissions must include live piano accompaniment.
    • Submissions may be audio only or audio with video.
    • Email video links or audio/video files to Dr. Cory Mixdorf on or before February 10, 2024.

For More Information About This Event      Cory Mixdorf, Associate Professor of Trombone – cmixdorf@uark.edu

For More Information About Registration     Nastassja Riley, 479-575-6491 or cms@uark.edu