About the Oklahoma State University Trombone Studio
Our Studio
The Oklahoma State University Trombone Studio has earned over 100 top honors in competitions. Studio ensembles have won the prestigious International Trombone Association Emory Remington Trombone Ensemble Competition, International Trombone Association Trombone Quartet Competition, International Trombone Association Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition, American Trombone Workshop National Trombone Quartet Competition, Courtois Trombone Quartet Competition, Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award for Best Classical Group, and the International Women’s Brass Conference Ginger Turner Brass Ensemble Competition.
Studio members have won the Oklahoma State University Concerto Competition 17 times, and have also earned top honors in solo competitions sponsored by the International Women’s Brass Conference, United States Army Band, Glenn Miller Birthplace Society, Southeast Trombone Symposium, Texas State Trombone Symposium, Eastern Music Festival, Ladies Music Club of Oklahoma City, Music Teachers National Association, Chamber Music Tulsa, International Trombone Association, American Trombone Workshop, Quartz Mountain Music Festival, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma Community Orchestra, Tulsa Rotary Club, FOOSA Festival, Big 12 Trombone Conference, Trombonanza, and Downbeat Magazine. This has resulted in studio members winning more than $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Studio members have also successfully auditioned into summer festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, Texas Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, National Music Festival, Chautauqua Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival, Brevard Summer Music Festival, Bar Harbor Brass Week, National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute, Brevard Summer Jazz Institute, and Quartz Mountain Music Festival.
The OSU trombone studio is comprised of students majoring in Music Performance, Music Education, Music Industry, and Bachelor of Arts in Music, as well as students pursuing minors in music or jazz, and non-music majors.
Our Professors
Paul Compton, Professor of Trombone
Professor Compton has been on the OSU Greenwood School of Music faculty since the fall of 2003. He has also been a faculty member for the Georgia Trombone Summit, and an artist for the Trombonanza Festival in Santa Fe, Argentina, and the Tourbon Festival in Santiago, Chile . Paul has appeared as soloist with the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra, Santa Fe Municipal Band, Camerata Eleutheria Chamber Orchestra, Oklahoma State University Wind Ensemble, and Oklahoma State University Symphony Orchestra. He has premiered numerous compositions for trombone, including works by composers Joseph T. Spaniola, James Kazik, John Cheetham, and Michael Schneider. Paul is a recipient of the OSU Friends of Music Distinguished Music Professor Award, OSU Regents Distinguished Teaching Award, and the OSU College of Arts and Sciences Wise-Diggs-Berry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Arts.
Paul is an artist for Edwards Trombones and Griego Mouthpieces.
Elizabeth Toles, Visiting Assistant Professor of Trombone
Professor Toles has been on the OSU Greenwood School of Music faculty since the fall of 2024. She completed her MM in Music Performance at the University of Georgia and her BM in Music Education and Music Performance at Oklahoma State University. She is a member of the Frontiers Brass Band and has performed with the Fountain City Brass Band, Athena Brass Band, and the Georgia Brass Band. Professor Toles was a member of ensembles that won the 2022 International Trombone Association Kai Winding Competition and the 2019 International Women’s Brass Conference Ginger Turner Brass Ensemble Competition, and she has performed at the American Trombone Workshop, International Trombone Festival, and Trombonanza Festival. Professor Toles was Drum Major of the Cowboy Marching Band, and she was selected for the OSU Alumni Association’s Senior of Significance and Outstanding Senior Awards.
Elizabeth is an artist for Edwards Trombones
Our School of Music
The OSU Trombone Studio is part of the Greenwood School of Music, which has experienced some very exciting changes since 2019. The OSU McKnight Center for the Performing Arts, a world-class concert hall and recital hall, opened in the fall of 2019. This beautiful facility not only serves as the new performance venue for OSU students and faculty, but also hosts performances made possible by the McKnight Foundation partnering with OSU to create a $50,000,000 endowment for programming world-class guest artists. Recent guest artists include the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Pink Martini, Tower of Power, and the Canadian Brass. Thanks to a wonderful gift from Michael and Anne Greenwood, the OSU Greenwood School of Music facility opened in the fall of 2021. With these truly transformative changes, the future of music at OSU is incredibly exciting!
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