Contact
Departments
Trombone
Courses Taught
Trombone Lessons
Education
MM Trombone Performance, New England Conservatory
BM Trombone Performance, Northwestern University
Q&A
What is your hometown?
Skokie, IL
What is your favorite recording? Why?
Mahler: Symphony No.2
Claudio Abbado: The Chicago Symphony Orchestra
This is one of my favorite pieces of all time played by one of my favorite orchestras. The lyricism, power, and unity across the orchestra is unmatched in many other recordings. This piece and recording effectively represent every emotion we feel as human beings.
What are you passionate about outside of music?
Food and swimming
Who were your major teachers?
Toby Oft, Michael Mulcahy, Tim Higgins
What is a favorite quote that you repeatedly tell students?
Play with your most beautiful, singing, sound at all times, always creating a beautiful phrase, no exceptions.
What question do you wish students would ask sooner rather than later?
What are my true goals in performing music?
What was the defining moment when you decided to pursue music as a career?
Hearing the Chicago Symphony play Berlioz: Symphonie Fantastique in 2011
What was a turning point in your career?
My second year of grad school. I finally realized what my priorities were in pursuing and performing music.
If you weren't a musician or teacher, what do you think you would be doing now?
I was probably going to do something in Psychology or Psychiatry
What is your daily practice routine?
Start with long tones and controlled slurs, always phrasing, trying to match the beautiful sound in my head more accurately every day.
If you could play only three composers for the rest of your life, who would they be?
Robert Schumann, Sergei Prokofiev, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
What is your unrealized project?
I would love to do many more recitals!
What do you think makes a concert experience unique?
When the audience and the performers truly align to fully connect the two worlds emotionally.
Biography
Michael Cox is currently Principal Trombone of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and Second Trombone of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. He has previously served as the Principal Trombone of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Trombone of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra. Michael has also performed with the New York Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Michael attended Northwestern University for his Bachelor's Degree in Trombone Performance, and New England Conservatory for his Master's Degree in Trombone Performance. Michael has been a fellow of the New York Philharmonic Global Academy, Tanglewood Music Festival, and Music Academy of the West. He has also been an associate member of Civic Orchestra of Chicago.
Outside of the orchestra, Michael enjoys cooking, swimming, and playing chess.