Larry Zalkind
Biography
When he was eight years old, trombonist Larry Zalkind jumped at the chance to enter the music program at his local elementary school. Inspired by his favorite group, the Tijuana Brass, he had always wanted to play the trumpet. But there were no trumpets left, and his school music teacher Nora Graham settled the issue by declaring, “You look like a trombone player to me!” His fate sealed, Zalkind carried the enormous trombone case home from school with the help of a fellow third grader. After studying with Harold Diner and Norman Bernstein, Larry entered the California Institute of the Arts Youth program in the eighth grade, where he coached chamber music with Los Angeles Tubist Tommy Johnson. By the age of 17, Larry was studying with Robert Marsteller as a student at the University of Southern California. Other highly influential teachers include Arnold Jacobs, Lewis Van Haney, Jimmy Stamp, Tommy Johnson, Ralph Sauer, Dennis Smith, Byron Peebles and Terry Cravens. He went on to major in music education and to receive a master degree in music during his time at USC. In the fall of 1981, while pursuing his doctorate in music performance at the University of Michigan, the 25-year-old won the audition to become Principal Trombonist for the Utah Symphony, a position he has held since 1981.
In 1976, Larry won the Saunderson Award at the Coleman Chamber Music Competition. He has toured, recorded, and performed extensively as a member of the Summit Brass on trombone and euphonium since 1990. He has also performed with Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon; Music of the Baroque in Chicago; the Colorado Music Festival in Boulder; the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming; the Eastern Trombone Workshop in Washington, DC, and the Elkhorn Music Festival in Sun Valley, Idaho. He spent the 2009/10 seasons performing as Associate Principal Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has performed and recorded with the Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Louis symphonies. Larry also performed as a member of the Long Beach Symphony before moving to Utah. Larry has been featured as soloist with the Fairbanks Symphony, the Southwest Symphony, the West Los Angeles Symphony, the Billings Symphony, the Twin Falls Symphony, the Macon Symphony, the Burbank (California) Chamber Orchestra, and the Central Oregon Symphony, in addition to the New Sousa Band, the Ringgold Band, the Pierce Symphonic Winds, the U.S. Army Orchestra, The US Army Band, and the Denver Municipal Band. He was the solo euphonium with the Long Beach Municipal Band from 1977 to 1980 and has been a member of the Tubadors tuba quartet since 1978.
Larry has released three solo CDs on the Summit Records label. His first CD, Larry Zalkind Plays Baroque Music on the Trombone, features Baroque music on the trombone in different settings; his second, Encore!, features different types of encores performed with trombone and piano (www.zalkindmusic.com). His third CD, Lost in the Stars, is a jazz CD featuring the music of Sondheim, Bernstein and Weil, accompanied by some of Los Angele’s finest jazz players.
Mr. Zalkind has been a faculty member at the University of Utah for 30 years. He has served as clinician in many music festivals around the U.S., including the International Trombone Association Trombone Festival, the 76+4 Trombone Workshop at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference. He has served on the faculty of the Hartwick Summer Music Festival in New York, the Batiquitos Festival of the Arts in San Diego, the Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar in Wyoming, and the Marrowstone Music Festival in Port Townsend, Washington. He has also held faculty positions at Cerritos College in California, Albion College in Michigan, Westminster College in Salt Lake City, and Weber State College in Ogden, Utah.
Larry is married to Utah Symphony Associate Principal Violist Roberta Zalkind. They began dating while both were students at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. They have three children: Ben, Matt, and Aaron.
This coming season, Larry will perform his 31stseason at the Grand Teton Music Festival and will again participate as a member of the Summit Brass in the Rafael Mendez/Summit Brass Institute in Denver, Colorado. He will participate in other recitals and master classes around the country, including a recital and master class at Vanderbilt University and a master class at the University of Michigan. He will also serve as soloist with the Utah Wind Symphony, The US Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”) at the Eastern Trombone Workshop, he will complete a residency in Japan as a guest of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra, and spend a week performing with the Boston Symphony. A Yamaha Artist, Larry has been heavily involved in the design of a new large-bore tenor trombone and alto trombone, both of which he currently plays.
