Trombone Quartet to perform on NE
by Shannon Harrison, managing editor

    Nationally recognized musicians will perform a special concert next week on NE Campus.

    The music department will present the Rittenhouse Trombone Quartet Thursday, March 8, in the NE Playhouse.

    The concert, featuring selections ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to the Beatles, begins at 7:30 p.m. and is free.

    The Rittenhouse Quartet is composed of students from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

    “We at TCC have the opportunity to hear some of the finest young musicians in the world,” James Barros, associate professor of music, said. “Thirty percent of the top five orchestras in the country are filled with Curtis graduates.

    “There were over 4,800 applicants to the school, and only 45 were selected and had full scholarships,” he said.

    The students who make up the Rittenhouse Trombone Quartet are Anthony R. Wise, Ryan Johnstone, W. David Rumbaugh Jr. and Zachary W. Bond.

    Wise, who plays tenor trombone, is in his third year at the Curtis Institute. He earned numerous awards in junior and senior high school, including all state orchestra and band and performing Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in Carnegie Hall. He was also in the York Youth Symphony and the York Symphony’s Concerto Competition.

    In his first year at Curtis, Wise was the International Trombone Association’s Scholarship winner.

    In his second year at Curtis, Johnstone, tenor trombone, has received several honors and awards in music. His most notable public school music honors include being named to the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra and winning the Outstanding Trombone Soloist for Texas, one of the state’s most distinguished music honors.

    Rumbaugh tenor trombone, is in his first year at Curtis. He was named to the All-State Symphony Orchestra three times while in high school. Rumbaugh was a member of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, serving as principal his junior and senior years.

    Bond, bass trombone, is in this third year at Curtis on the Bok Foundation Fellowship. In high school, he was named first chair in the Texas All-State Symphony Orchestra. He was also a member of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra for two years.

    Bond’s ensemble experience includes performances with the Dallas Wind Symphony, Meadows Symphony Orchestra, Haddonfield Symphony, Philadelphia Opera, National Repertory Orchestra and the Curtis Symphony and Opera Orchestra.

    “Zachary is a former student here, and David and Anthony are thinking about attending the mini-semester in May,” Barros said.

    “It is an understatement to say they are just good musicians because they are among the finest musicians in the world,” he said.
“This is an opportunity for our community and students to hear music at its highest attainment,” he said.

    For more information, call 817-515-6497.