Toby Oft

Toby Oft is the twelfth principal trombone in the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; occupying the J.P. and Mary B. Barger Chair, he was appointed in 2008 by then music director James Levine. Currently in his ninth season with the BSO, he has performed both as a soloist with the orchestra and as a chamber musician with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Mr. Oft previously held principal trombone positions with the San Diego Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Sarasota Orchestra. International career highlights as a concerto soloist have included acclaimed performances of such works as Launy Grøndahl's Concerto for Trombone and Ferdinand David's Concertino for Trombone with a diverse variety of ensembles on several continents. Domestic solo performances range from Gunther Schuller's virtuosic Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik with "Pershing's Own" U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., to Leopold Mozart's rarely performed Serenade in D for trumpet, alto trombone, and orchestra with the Boston Classical Orchestra. Deeply committed to education, Mr. Oft has presented master classes and recitals around the world. Here at home, he is on the faculty at the New England Conservatory and Boston University. During the summer, he coaches at the Tanglewood Music Center and is a frequent guest teacher and performer at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In addition to prominent military band and teaching positions, Mr. Oft's students have won tenured positions in top orchestras such as Detroit, Jacksonville, Toronto, and Puerto Rico. Recent students have also been accepted to such distinguished festivals as the Verbier Festival and Tanglewood Music Center. As an Edwards Instruments performing artist, Mr. Oft helped design the new T350-HB tenor trombone model and has his own exclusive line of tenor and alto trombone mouthpieces with Griego Mouthpieces. In spring 2014, Toby Oft released his debut album, "First Look." As part of the lineage of the great Joannes Rochut, a former principal trombone of the BSO, he is currently recording all the Rochut Etudes in HD video for YouTube students worldwide. For links to these videos and more, please visit TobyOft.com.