Dr. Ken Shifrin

PhD, Oxford University

Alto and Tenor Trombone / Euphonium / Bass Trumpet
Soloist, Clinician, Lecturer, Magistrate Judge, Music Publisher

Few trombonists are as eminently qualified as Ken Shifrin in both the professional and academic fields. A native of Washington, D.C., his playing was described by the Vienna Kurier as “brilliant, with almost unbelievable beauty of tone, artistry and elegance”. In 1982 he was appointed Principal Trombonist of Great Britain’s City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra by Chief Conductor Sir Simon Rattle who declared him “not only one of the most able trombonists in my experience but also an intelligent and wide-ranging musician”. Prior to coming to Britain, he held the position of Principal Trombonist with the Radio Stuttgart Orchestra and Associate Principal with the Israel Philharmonic.

Since 1994 he has been the artistic director of the international touring ensemble, Posaune Voce Trio, which specializes in the performance of newly discovered baroque works featuring the alto trombone in a solo role with voice, and in 2014 he formed the English Trombone Consort. In the U.S. he was a member of the popular rock band the Atlantics, performing for such artistes as Michael Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, Natalie Cole, Paul Anka, the Drifters, Pearl Bailey and Andy Williams. He is much in demand as a guest soloist, having appeared with the U.S. Navy Band, the U.S. Army Band, the U.S. Army Orchestra, at the Smetana International Music Festival, the Slovakian Cultural Summer Festival, the Dvorak Summer Festival, the Edinburgh Festival, the Malta International Arts Festival, and the London Barbican, as well as presenting recitals and master classes in Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Krakow, Bratislava, Kiev, Cardiff, Oxford and Washington D.C. Dr Shifrin has premiered a number of works, including the first American and British performances of the Leopold Mozart “Concerto for Alto Trombone”.

With a PhD in musicology from Oxford University, Ken Shifrin was the recipient of a British Academy Humanities Research Board’s Scholarship and the Oxford University Press’ Music and Letters Award, as well as being named the Halstead Scholar by the Board of the Oxford University Music Faculty. His doctoral dissertation in considered the definitive word on which 19th century composers wrote for the alto trombone as opposed to a tenor  trombone. Since 2000 he has been a British Exchange Scholar for the Czech Academy of Science in Prague and has presented papers at musicological meetings on both sides of the Atlantic. He is the owner of Virgo Music Publishers and a clinician for Selmer-Bach Trombones and Voigt Handcrafted Brass Instruments of Markneukirchen, Germany. Dr Shifrin is listed in the International Who’s Who of Music.

In 2005 Ken Shifrin was appointed a Magistrate Judge for England and Wales by the Lord Chancellor.

Ken Shifrin Online