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"I was
introduced to classical music by listening to old 78s of pieces by
Wagner while I was in high school. It inspired me to pursue a career in
music," says Chicago native Jay Friedman. Jay attended Yale
University on scholarship and later majored in composition at Roosevelt
University. After four years with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and two
years with the Florida Symphony, he joined the CSO in 1962 and was
appointed Principal Trombone in 1964 by Maestro Martinon. He has been
soloist with the CSO on several occasions, including a concerto by Ellen
Zwilich commissioned for him by the Edward F. Schmidt family. This year, Jay released a solo CD entitled The Singing Trombone, which is intended to assist trombone students. He has taught trombone privately for many years and his students hold positions in major orchestras such as the Gothenburg Symphony, Tucson Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Chautauqua Symphony, and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra. Mr. Friedman currently serves as professor of Trombone and chairman of the Wind Department at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and he has been artist-in-residence at Indiana University. Jay recently was invited to hold master classes and perform at the International Trombone Camp in Fossano, Italy, and, in 2002, will do the same for the International Trombone Association in Dallas. |
Active as a conductor, Jay was named music director of The Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest in 1996. At the invitation of Daniel Barenboim, he conducted the Civic Orchestra of Chicago in Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre in 1998. The Chicago Sun-Times called the performance, "the best Civic concert in the past 30 years." In 2002 Jay was chosen Conductor of the Year by the Illinois Council of Orchestras. His articles on conducting and orchestra style have been published by Instrumentalist magazine, and those articles are now used as curriculum at leading universities. In the spring of 2001, Jay combined his passion for brass and conducting by organizing the Chicago Symphony Brass and alumni to perform a concert at Symphony Center that benefited The Symphony of Oak Park and River Forest and the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. This all-brass concert, entitled Brass Buddies, featured his own arrangement of Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, which was originally commissioned by the Grand Teton Music Festival in 1996. This concert also presented antiphonal music of Gabrieli, which was originally recorded with the Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia orchestra brass sections in 1971. A second Brass Buddies concert will be performed in December of 2002. His conducting career has included guest appearances with the RAI (Orchestra of the Italian Radio) in Turino, Italy, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, American Opera Group, Chautauqua Music Festival, Hawaii Symphony, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. |
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