Chris Houlding - Conductor - Performer

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“Houlding it Together"

A compilation album of interesting and original works for two trombones featuring Joseph Alessi, Brett Baker, Ben van Dijk, Carol Jarvis, Niels Ole Bo Johansen, Don Lucas, Ansgar Striepens and Jiggs Whigham.

Available to members on the International Trombone Association Website. You can be a member of ITA for as little as $25 per year and gain access to this and many other benefits and resources. Join now and be part of the world trombone network.

Click here to hear excerpt of Bujole by Simon Wills

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“Houlding His Own” - Available on CD Baby

Chris Houlding - Trombone
Ian Buckle - Piano

In this album I have attempted to combine some new and refreshing takes on the character of the unaccompanied trombone together with two established classics from the main repertoire with piano. Added to this are a selection of smaller scale diversions which I will hope confirm that this noble instrument is not without considerable charm and versatility.

Conductor

Conductor

Performer

Performer

Chris Houlding

In 1980, age 20, Chris toured with the London Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Celibidache at the invitation of Denis Wick and was appointed Principal Trombone of the Orchestra of Opera North (formerly English Northern Philharmonia) in the following year, a seat he held for twenty seven years. He has since appeared as Guest Principal with most major UK ensembles including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Royal Opera House Covent Garden and London Brass and still plays regularly with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, MusicFabrik, Scottish Chamber, Superbrass and the Symphonic Brass of London. A graduate of London’s Guildhall School of Music, he studied with Denis Wick, Eric Crees and Peter Gane, and was awarded the Principal’s Prize.

Currently Head of Brass at Birmingham Conservatoire, Professor of Trombone and Brass Ensemble at the Folkwang University of Arts, Essen, Germany and Visiting Tutor at London's Guildhall School of Music & Drama, he has also served as Senior Tutor in Brass and International Visiting Tutor at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music and has been recently voted 2014 Teacher of the Year by the British Trombone Society. He is a regular Trombone Professor with the Gustav Mahler Jungendorchester, European Union Youth Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and gives recitals and masterclasses throughout the world, including the Joseph Alessi Summer Seminar, Juilliard, Eastman and conservatoires in Boston, Texas, St Petersburg, Moscow, Porto, Oslo, Aarhus, Riga and Budapest. Chris has also given recitals, classes and has served as outside assessor at many UK Conservatoires and universities.

In 2003 Chris represented the UK in the World Orchestra for Peace under Valery Gergiev and has made concerto appearances with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Durham Sinfonia, Helix Ensemble and Orchestra of Opera North with whom he performed the Elgar Howarth Concerto under the composer on his 70th Birthday. Currently Chairman of the International Trombone Association Executive Board and a former President of the British Trombone Society, he has hosted the IPV Symposium 2010 in Essen and appeared as guest artist at International Trombone Festivals in Nashville, Aarhus, Birmingham, Las Vegas, Slide Factory Rotterdam, IPV Symposiums in Hannover and Stuttgart, Adams and Lätzsch Festivals in the Netherlands and International Festivals in Washington DC and Sweden. His debut solo CD entitled Houlding his own was issued in February 2008 on the SRC label and a second Duet Album is to be issued in the near future featuring Joseph Alessi, Brett Baker, Ben van Dijk, Carol Jarvis, Niels Ole Bo Johansen, Don Lucas, Ansgar Striepens and Jiggs Whigham.

Chris was awarded an MMus in Conducting by the Royal Northern College of Music in 2005 and held the position of Music Director with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra for six years. He has also conducted the Bochumer Symphoniker, Duisburg Philharmoniker, Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal, Orchestra of Opera North, Trinity College of Music Wind Orchestra & Brass Ensemble, Düsseldorf University Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra, RNCM Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra and Brass Band, Lancashire Youth Symphony, Oslo Music Academy Brass Ensemble, Prinsen Musikkorps Brass Band, Denmark, Grimethorpe Colliery Band and DUT Yorkshire Imperial with whom he won the National Brass Band First Section Championships in 2005. As adjudicator, he has served on international juries including the Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen, First International Wind Competition Moscow, Turkish Young Musician of the Year, Norwegian and British Brass Band Championships, Feis Ceoil Dublin and the Royal Overseas League Music Competition London an is a regular contributor to Brass Journals.