JOSEPH ALESSI
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Joseph Alessi was appointed Principal Trombone of the
New York Philharmonic in the spring of 1985. Mr. Alessi began musical studies
in his native California with his father, Joseph Alessi, Sr. As a high school
student in San Rafael, California, he was a soloist with the San Francisco
Symphony before continuing his musical training at Philadelphia’s Curtis
Institute of Music. Prior to joining the Philharmonic, Mr. Alessi was second
trombone of the Philadelphia Orchestra for four seasons and principal trombone
of L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal for one season.
Mr. Alessi is an active soloist, recitalist, and chamber
music performer. In April 1990, he made his solo debut with the New York
Philharmonic, performing Creston’s Fantasy for Trombone, and in 1992
premiered Christopher Rouse’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Trombone Concerto
with the Orchestra, which commissioned the work for its 150th Anniversary
Celebration. His most recent appearance with the Philharmonic as soloist
was in performances of James Pugh’s Trombone Concerto in March of
2000.
He has been a guest soloist with the Lincoln Symphony,
National Repertory Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Syracuse Symphony
Orchestra, Santa Barbara Symphony, South Dakota Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic,
Orchestra of Teatro Bellini in Catania Sicily, Mannheim National Theater
Orchestra, National Symphony of Taiwan, and the Hauge Philharmonic. Mr. Alessi
has also participated in numerous festivals, including the Festivale Musica
di Camera in Protogruaro, Italy, the Cabrillo Music Festival, Swiss Brass
Week, and Lieksa Brass Week in Finland. He was featured in the 1997 International
Trombone Festival in Feldkirch, Austria, and the International Meeting of
Brass Instruments in Lille, France. He is founding member of the Summit Brass
ensemble at the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute in Tempe, Arizona.
Currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School, his
students now occupy posts with many major symphony orchestras throughout
the United States. As a clinician for the Edwards Instrument Co., he has
also given master classes throughout the world and has toured Europe extensively
as a master teacher and recitalist. Mr. Alessi has performed on numerous
occasions as soloist with local concert bands including the West Point Army
Band, Hanover Wind Symphony, and Ridgewood, New Jersey Concert Band.
Mr. Alessi’s discography includes Slide Area on
the D’Note record label and New York Legends on the Cala label as well
as a new release with New York Philharmonic Principal Trumpet Philip Smith
on the Summit record label entitled Fandango. His live recording of the Rouse
Concerto with the New York Philharmonic can be heard on Volume II of the
recent release, An American Celebration, on New York Philharmonic Special
Editions, the Orchestra’s own recording label. He was invited by the
International Trombone Association to record a solo disc of newly composed
works, which was distributed to the Association’s membership of 5,000
trombonists in early 1999. Recently, his recording of George Crumb’s
Starchild on the Bridge record label, featuring Mr. Alessi as soloist, won
a Grammy Award for 1999-2000. Other recordings featuring Mr. Alessi are with
the Canadian Brass for Sony Classical and Philips Records.
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