Celebrating 20 Years, Trombone Choir Presents Spring Concert At A&M United Methodist Church

Dr. David Wilborn’s affection for the bass trombone goes back to his high school years in Austin. He was a freshman who played tenor trombone, but his instrument was damaged by students horsing around in the band hall.

His band directors had just acquired a new bass trombone and suggested he try it.

“I said, ‘OK, sure,’” he recalls. “There was never a plan for me to play bass trombone. But I just loved the instrument. It was new, and it was big compared to what I was playing before. There were method books that were created just for that instrument. I was fascinated with it.”

The bass trombone became the instrument of choice for Wilborn, associate professor in the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts. His love for the instrument continued throughout his career in academia, and in 2004, he created the Texas A&M Trombone Choir.

The choir celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, and performs its spring concert at A&M United Methodist Church on Thursday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. For the first time, Wilborn will get an assist in leading the choir with the addition of Dr. James Van Zandt, Texas A&M’s director of orchestras who is also a conductor and trombone player who played in the U.S. Air Force Band.

Though the choir’s early years were lean, it started to grow thanks to active student officers who helped to recruit players and developed connections with the community, Wilborn said. Soon people were referring students to Wilborn, and he still hears from band directors across Texas letting him know their students are coming to Texas A&M.

The choir is now bigger than ever, with 25 student members.

“It’s very impressive,” Wilborn said of the history and growth. “It’s extremely impressive here at Texas A&M because none of these students are music majors. I have friends that are jealous that I have not only this amount of talent, but I have these numbers. I’m very lucky, very fortunate that I have this available to me.”

The trombone’s versatility lends itself to such ensembles, he said, as a tenor-voiced instrument that has the flexibility to expand in range.

“It can go and play bass lines, and players that are really good can also expand up into the alto range,” he said. “So you have three vocal ranges that you can cover with the trombone. By comparison, the trumpet is a soprano-voiced instrument. There’s a limited range in what they can hit in an ensemble. With trombone, you do have that full range. It has always historically been valued for its tenor-vocal expressive ability.”

The choir practices every Tuesday night in the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities Building. Wilborn said he’s been pleased to see the group socialize and organize events and gatherings, “because everybody enjoys being with each other.”

The concert will feature an original composition by Wilborn, and he said he draws from inspiration in writing these pieces. Examples from previous years include the San Gabriel River and a trip to South America. This time around, it was perhaps a more unlikely source of inspiration: an Aspercreme commercial.

The clip featured two women dressed as gladiators in the midst of combat, until one screams in pain. The reason is not a battle wound, but arthritis. But it sparked a dive into history for Wilborn, and he found stories of female gladiators and their struggles to get respect. Some were “just a spectacle in the eyes of men,” he said, but they were often skilled and crafty in combat. He built a story out of such a warrior — a gladiatrix — about to go into battle.

“So it starts with this meditative moment,” he said. “Then eventually, she’s ready to go out there and fight. And so the music builds, and all of a sudden she’s out there fighting. So you hear this combative music that is clearly relatable to ancient Rome. She battles and she’s fighting, and she goes back into this reflective moment for a brief pause. But ultimately the combative music comes back to end it, and she’s victorious.”

The Trombone Choir’s 20^th year includes an upcoming performance at the International Trombone Festival 2024 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. Members of Maroon Steel will join the choir in the performance June 1 at 5 p.m. in Van Cliburn Hall.

The Trombone Choir also performs with the Small Ensembles — coached by Wilborn and Virginia Figueiredo, instructional associate professor in music — on April 23 at 7:30 p.m. at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church, 1001 Woodcreek Drive in College Station. The concert will also feature ensembles including string quartet; piano and string trio; solo trombone and piano; and a saxophone trio.