DONNA PARKES

Australian trombonist Donna Parkes is currently in her second season with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Prior to this she was a member of the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas. She has performed with many orchestras including the Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Sydney Symphony and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Solo competition successes include winning the Australian National Trombone Competition, the Brisbane International Brass Competition and finalist in the 2002 Jeju Brass Competition in Korea. Miss Parkes received her Masters Degree studying under Charles Vernon and other primary teachers include Michael Mulcahy and Ron Prussing.

JULIA MCINTYRE

Julia McIntyre (née Bantin) began her musical training at the age of twelve, studying trombone, voice and piano. Two years later she switched to bass trombone and studied privately for eight years with Murray Crewe, Doug Sparkes and Gordon Sweeney. In 1991 she attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan and the following year went on to win the top brass trophy in the Kiwanis Music Festival of Toronto. In 1992 Julia began her Bachelor of Music Performance studies at the University of Toronto, receiving scholarships each year. In the summers of 1993 and 19294, she played and toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada where she studied with Richard Erb.
In the summer of 1995, before her final year at the University of Toronto, Julia won the bass trombone position in the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and has secured a tenured position. She has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and is currently recording her first solo cd. She is a member of the Monarch Brass Ensemble, and a board member of the International Women's Brass Conference.

JESSICA GUSTAVSSON

Jessica was the First prize winner of the international trombone competitions "Concours Branimir Slokar 2000 " in Switzerland and "Lieksa trombone competition 1998" in Finland. She also got third prize in "Concorso Internazionale Giovani Concertisti 2000" Porcia, Italy. Jessica studied at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden with Ingemar Roos and Christian Lindberg. She got her soloist diploma 2002 performing Christopher Rouse´s Trombone Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Gothenburg. She has also studied in France with Michael Bequet and in Chicago, U.S.A with Arnold Jacobs, Jay Friedman and Edward Kleinhammer.During her stay in Chicago she became a member of The Civic Orchestra of Chicago in which she had the advantage to work with conducters as Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. Jessica received the Swedish honour prize "Kristallen den fina" ("Crystal prize ") 2002, with the motivation:"With engagement and success she has made valuable achievements in contemporary music.
Her artistic personality is characterized by a strong stage presence and an intense, warm sound, distinctive, like the chrystal itself, reflektive warmth, force, luminosity and long resonance." Jessica is a member of Trombone Unit 2000 and when performing at the ITF 2002 in Denton, Texas the reviewer wrote; -one of the absolute highlights of the concert was the Carmen suite, featuring Jessica Gustavsson.- Her alto trombone playing was simply tremendous.

JEANNIE LITTLE

Trombonist Jeannie Little received her degrees from Northwestern University and The Florida State University. Her principal teachers include Jay Friedman, Frank Crisafulli, Charles Vernon, Arnold Jacobs, John Marcellus and William Cramer.Ms. Little has served as principal trombonist of the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Chamber Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, and the Elgin Symphony orchestra. In addition, she has performed with the Detroit, Honolulu, Alabama, Chautauqua, and New Mexico Symphony Orchestras, and has toured and recorded with the Chicago Symphony under Leonard Bernstein. Ms. Little was a founding member of the highly acclaimed, award-winning trombone quartet, PRISMA, which toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, and has been featured at International Trombone Workshops, the International Women's Brass Conference. As a clinician, Ms. Little is active presenting recitals and master classes throughout the country, with recent performances at the International Trombone Festival, the Eastern Trombone Workshop, Oberlin Conservatory, and the Arizona Low Brass Symposium. She has also appeared as guest conductor and performer in the International Women's Trombone Choir at the International Trombone Workshops in 1992 and 1995.Having worked as the trombone professor at James Madison University, the Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Hawaii, Ms. Little is currently a free-lance artist and elementary orchestra teacher in Los Angeles, California.

AUDREY MORRISON

A native of New York City, Audrey Morrison began her studies on trombone at age 9. As a high school student, she was a scholarship recipient at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, principal trombone in the Mannes College of Music Wind and Brass Ensemble, and a member of the National Orchestra Association Orchestra. She entered the Eastman School of Music in 1971 to study with the renowned trombone teacher Emory Remington, earning a B.M. degree and receiving the coveted Performer's Certificate for excellence in performance. She returned to Eastman for her Masters Degree in Jazz Studies in 1988.
In 1980 she moved full time to Chicago to continue study with the esteemed brass teachers of the Chicago Symphony, specifically Arnold Jacobs, Frank Crisafulli, and Edward Kleinhammer. She became Principal Trombone of the Elgin Symphony in 1981, a post she holds to the present. She has been trombonist and leader of the Chamber Brass Players Quintet for ten years and has played as substitute/extra trombonist with the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic and San Diego Symphony.
As a jazz performer, she plays lead trombone with William Russo's Chicago Jazz Ensemble, the jazz sextet "SHE" and the Samba Samba 200 Latin Ensemble. She has performed with The Clark Terry Big Band, the "DIVA" Big Band in New York City, and the combo "Swingin' Ladies" which toured Europe in 1994.
Ms. Morrison has taught low brass and jazz at Wheaton College since 1981 and trombone at North Park College and Columbia College. She has also performed and taught at Clark Terry's Jazz Program in LeMars, Iowa and at the Summer Music Monterey Classical Program in Monterey, California.
As a trombone soloist, Ms. Morrison has appeared with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Elgin Symphony, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Wind Ensemble, the Vandercook College Wind Ensemble, and numerous high school ensembles. At the 1991 International Trombone Festival in Rochester, NY, she premiered Betsy Schramm's "Starlight Images" for unaccompanied trombone. She performed at the 21st International Trombone Festival in Detmold, Germany (1992), and the 1993 and 1997 International Women's Brass Conference in St. Louis.
An Affiliate Artist for United Musical Instruments, Ms. Morrison is a frequent soloist and clinician in both jazz and classical music. Her article "Switching between classical and jazz musical styles" appeared in Windplayer Magazine (June 1994), and she was featured in an extensive article about women instrumentalists, " You can't play that, it's a boy's instrument" in the March 30, 1997 Chicago Tribune.
Ms. Morrison can also be heard regularly on radio and television jingles.