Ian Bousfield

After having won the London Symphony Music Scholarship aged fifteen and serving a spell with the newly formed European Communities Youth Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, an orchestral career was inevitable. After five years in the Hallé Orchestra Ian became Principal trombone of the London Symphony Orchestra in 1988 aged 23.  This was very much a golden age for the LSO brass section, containing many now legendary names. The great sense of teamwork at the highest level is something that he now feels he can pass on to colleagues and younger players. This was also the age of the CD; often the orchestra would make one new CD every week, so his playing is heard on hundreds of recordings, including many film soundtracks – for example Star Wars Episode I and Braveheart.

It came as something if a surprise to many when, in 2000, Ian took and won the audition to become Solo Trombone with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera, a job which he held until 2012. This was a time particularly close to Ian’s heart, “it was wall-to-wall music, 24/7”.  As an orchestral player Ian played for the A-Z of the greatest conductors, and it was the admiration of their art that led him to begin conducting himself.

As a soloist Ian has played with many orchestras and brass bands, highlights of which were with the LSO and the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, Sir Neville Marriner, Ion Marin, and Tadaaki Otaka. He has appeared as soloist with all of the most famous brass bands as well as the US Marine Band and Kosei Winds in Japan. He has many solo recordings to his name from EMI, Chandos, Camerata and Doyen.

But eventually it was time to move on and concentrate on another great passion – pedagogy. Having been Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London since 1992, Ian took the decision to concentrate more on building his class when he moved to the Hochschule der Künste in Bern, Switzerland. Despite many offers from all corners of the world, Switzerland was the right fit for his new life. His students are now amongst the most successful in the world, sitting in the greatest orchestras, and 2014 saw Michael Buchanan win the first prize in the renowned ARD competition in Munich.

Recent projects have included appearing as conductor and soloist with the brass sections of the New World Symphony, Bern Symphony, Sonderborg Symphony and Norlands Symphony.

Ian plays on the Getzen “4147 Ian Bousfield” trombone. He also has his own highly successful range of mouthpieces on the market, as well as a substantial book on trombone playing, “Unlocking the Trombone Code”. He was recipient of the International Trombone Association lifetime award in 2012.