The RNCM Trombone Choir has become the first British trombone ensemble to win the ITA Emory Remington Trombone Choir Competition.
Directed by Simon Cowen and including students Rachel Allen, Christopher Binns, Nicholas Birch, Joshua Cirtina, Elisabeth Forest-Cummings, Joel Godfrey, Philip Guy and Joe Sharples, the RNCM ensemble beat strong competition from Juilliard, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and Boston University to take First Prize.
Entry requirements included audio submissions of Eric Ewazen’s Fantasy and Double Fugue, and Grieg’s Funeral March (arranged by Donald Rose) which were judged by Jesper Juul (Royal Danish Academy of Music), Jim Nova (Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra) and Bradley Palmer (Columbus State University).
Paying tribute to RNCM Bass Trombone Tutor Adrian ‘Benny’ Morris who died last September and who had a long association with the competition, Josh Cirtina said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to have won the competition. It’s been a particularly difficult year for the department, so this achievement really means the world to us. We know our greatly missed teacher and friend, Benny, would be absolutely over the moon.’
The ensemble now has an opportunity to perform at the 2016 International Trombone Festival in New York.
