OSU Jazz Trombone Ensemble is 2022 Kai Winding Competition Winner

OSU Jazz Trombone Ensemble is 2022 Kai Winding Competition Winner

The Oklahoma State University Jazz Trombone Ensemble has won the 2022 International Trombone Association Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition.  The annual ITA Kai Winding Competition is open to any jazz trombone ensemble of three or more trombonists, plus rhythm section.  This competition has been part of the ITA competitions since 1988.  The winning ensemble is selected by three judges, based on a 20-minute audio recording submission.

The 2022 OSU Jazz Trombone Ensemble is Corey Burton, second-year MM performance major from Beggs, Oklahoma; Jonathan Hanna, junior music education major from Wagoner, Oklahoma; Ethan Warren, junior music performance major from Edmond, Oklahoma; Ethan Do, freshman music performance major from Edmond, Oklahoma; Elizabeth Toles, senior music performance and music education major from Stilwell, Kansas; and Benjamin Grief, first-year MM performance major from Derby, Kansas.  The ensemble is directed by Paul Compton, OSU Associate Professor of Trombone.

The prize for winning the Winding Competition is a featured one-hour performance at the 2022 International Trombone Festival, to be held at the University of Central Arkansas from July 13-16.  The OSU Jazz Trombone Ensemble will perform at 7:00 pm on July 15.

With this win, the OSU Trombone Studio is now one of only three university trombone studios in the world to have won all of the ITA trombone ensemble competitions.  The only other studios to do so are the University of North Texas and the University of Texas.  In addition to the Winding Competition, the OSU Trombone Studio has previously won the ITA Emory Remington Trombone Ensemble Competition and the ITA Trombone Quartet Competition.