13 Famous Euphonium Players

When it comes to orchestral instruments, the euphonium is probably one of the less common types. It doesn't sound as loud as other brass instruments and can be difficult to play due to its somewhat "strange" shape. However, there are some famous euphonium players who have made their mark on this wonderful instrument.

1. David Childs

David Childs is the third generation in a family of prolific euphonium players. John Childs, David's grandfather was a famous euphonium player, as were his sons, Robert, Nicholas - David's father and uncle.

David began studying with his father at an early age and was as prodigious as the other Childs euphonium players. He became the first euphonium soloist to win a brass final in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2000 and went on to win the title of Best Euphonium Artist in 2004.

David has toured extensively as a soloist throughout Australia and New Zealand, the United States, Europe and Asia. In addition to appearing with many orchestras, David has received nearly many awards for his skill and creativity as a euphonium player.

2. Steven Mead

British euphonium soloist and soloist Steven Mead is known worldwide as one of the most recorded brass soloists. With over 65 albums and numerous publications, Mead has certainly popularized the euphonium as an instrument by his expertise.

Mead has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras worldwide and with top military bands around the world. Today, he gives more than 75 solo concerts a year, touring almost continuously. In addition to being a performer and recording artist, Mead is widely known as an educator and has taught many successful music professionals. He is responsible for forming the first euphonium master classes in several countries across Europe and Asia.

3. Demondrae Thurman

Demondrae Thurman is a euphonium soloist, educator, conductor and chamber musician known worldwide for her exceptional talent. His performing career includes the Philadelphia Big Brass, Dallas Brass and Sotto Voce Quartet. Thurman has released three recording albums, including the latest release – Snapshots, which was also awarded a silver medal for Best Album by the Global Music Awards. Currently, he is Professor of Music at Indiana University, a role created specifically for his expertise in euphonium.

4. Nicholas Childs

Welsh musician and brass teacher Nicholas Childs, son of the famous Euphonium player John Childs, started playing the baritone as a child and quickly switched to euphonium. He and his brother Robert debuted at the Royal Albert Hall as the "Children Brothers" and began touring internationally.

As a euphonium soloist, Nicholas has won more than a dozen national and international championships and performed with numerous brass bands. He is best known as a composer and educator. He is also the founder of the Yorkshire Youth Brass Band and has been the director of the UK's National Children's Brass Band since 2006.

Nicholas Childs has received numerous academic awards as an educator. Currently, Nicholas is the conductor and music director of the Black Dyke Band.

5. Rich Matterson

American jazz artist Rich Matteson has performed a number of instruments with many bands but is best known as a music educator and bandleader. Of all the instruments he can play - brass, trombone van, tuba, Helicon and piano, his main instrument is the euphonium.

Matteson performed in Vegas with Bob Scobey and the Dukes of Dixieland before conducting the Castro Brothers Big Band in Mexico City. He taught at the University of North Texas and the University of North Florida and founded the Matteson-Phillips Tubajazz Association with tuba artist Harvey Phillips in 1976. In 2000, Matteson was inducted into the Jacksonville Jazz Festival Hall of Fame.

6. David Werden

David Werden is best known for 26 years as a euphonium soloist with the United States Coast Guard Band and has performed worldwide. He has received two Medals of Achievement from the Coast Guard, several other military awards and commendations for his service.

Werden is also a gifted writer, published in many of his journals and independent works. He is the co-author of The Euphonium Guide to Music and Euphonium Snippets from the Standard Orchestra and Band Library.

7. Brian Bowman

American euphonium master Brian Bowman was born in Fort Dodge, Iowa. After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees in music, he served as a euphonium soloist, first with the United States Navy Band and later with the United States Armed Forces Bicentennial Band.

Bowman next earned a doctorate in musical arts and completed his military career with the United States Air Force Band until 1991. He would go on to become the first euphonium soloist to perform solo at Carnegie. Hall and was the first guest euphonium artist to appear at the Leonard Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival. Bowman is also responsible for the development of the euphonium, both in terms of its musical interpretation and form.

He was the first euphonium player to serve as president of the International Euphonium Tuba Association and has advised musical instrument companies to develop new parts.

8. Arthur Lehman

American euphonium soloist Arthur Lehman began playing with the Army Band in 1944, followed by the Navy Band and then the Marines Band in 1947.

His use of larger British-made euphoniums made them popular in the United States, where they remained largely unnoticed. Lehman worked with musical instrument companies Boosey and Hawkes to develop the euphonium with the famous "Lehman Special" parabolic cup-shaped mouthpiece. His fame in the music world helped make the euphonium famous throughout the United States as it is today.

9. Leonard Falcone

Leonard Falcone is a skilled baritone player, conductor and gifted educator. He started playing the alto and violin in Italy as a child and learned many instruments as a teenager. Falcone immigrated to the United States following his brother Nicholas, and enrolled at the University of Michigan.

After graduating with a violin degree, he became a conductor at Michigan State College, where he was responsible for the growth and development of the College of Music there. His career included military service with the US Air Force Band in Alabama, White House performances, and decades of touring as a solo artist. After his death, his students organized the Falcone International Tuba and Euphonium Festival in his honor.

10. Adam Frey

Adam Frey is a euphonium soloist and renowned ambassador with international tours of the instrument. He has more than 40 works composed for himself. Frey hosts the annual International Euphonium Tuba Festival at Emory University and is an Associate Professor at the University of North Georgia.

He has performed as a soloist and as a guest at festivals worldwide with orchestras, including Boston Pops. In 2020, Frey announced plans to spend a semester writing an original euphonium textbook, as opposed to a traditional adaptation of trombone lessons.

His Testament was the first euphonium textbook ever written in three languages.

11. Robert Vos

Euphonium soloist and conductor Robbert Vos began his musical exploration with the flugelhorn before moving on to the euphonium. He played with the Royal Dutch Navy's Marine Band and the five-time Dutch champion Schoonhoven Brass Band. Vos has received numerous awards as a soloist, including the “Bess Soloist” award at Brass in Concert 2016. He has studied with euphonium masters such as Steven Mead and David Childs and has released two solo albums, DUAL and VOX .

12. Bente Illevold

Norwegian musician Bente Illevold is a euphonium soloist and educator known for his innovative performances and original compositions. The first time she played the trumpet at school, she chose the euphonium when her school's band needed a player.

Illevold says she always knew she was going to study music and simply never thought about studying anything else in college. She always imagined that she would continue to teach at some level. Bente Illevold is passionate about supporting the euphonium and hopes to see its repertoire expand in new and exciting ways. Currently, Illevold works as a freelance musician, guest teacher, bandleader, and member of the Northern Lights Duo.

13. Simone Mantia

Simone Mantia was called the master of the euphonium in his day, starting to play the alto at the age of nine. He later picked up the trombone van and the baritone, and when he immigrated to the United States at the age of 17, he had mastered all of them. As his career progressed, he played with orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the NBC Symphony and the Arthur Pryor Band.

His legacy includes some of the first euphonium recordings ever made, as he was one of the earliest masters of the instrument in the era of recorded sound. Mantia's playing style is particularly unique in that he refuses to play in the traditional European vibrato and prefers instead to play in an American baritone. In this way, he was quite the opposite of Leonard Falcone, who was recognized after Mantia's time.