Toby Oft

Toby Oft is the 12th principal trombone in the history of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Occupying the J.P. and Mary B. Barger Chair, he was appointed in 2008 by then-music director James Levine. Currently in his ninth season with the BSO, he has performed both as a soloist with the orchestra and as a chamber musician with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players. Oft previously held principal trombone positions with the San Diego Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and Sarasota Orchestra. International career highlights as a concerto soloist have included acclaimed performances of such works as Launy Grøndahl's Concerto for Trombone and Ferdinand David's Concertino for Trombone with a diverse variety of ensembles on several continents. Domestic solo performances range from Gunther Schuller's virtuosic Eine Kleine Posaunenmusik with "Pershing's Own" U.S. Army Band in Washington, D.C., to Leopold Mozart's rarely-performed Serenade in D for Trumpet, Alto Trombone, and Orchestra with the Boston Classical Orchestra. Deeply committed to education, Oft has presented master classes and recitals around the world. Here at home, he is on the faculty at New England Conservatory and Boston University. During the summer, he coaches at Tanglewood Music Center and is a frequent guest teacher and performer at Boston University Tanglewood Institute. In addition to prominent military band and teaching positions, Oft's students have won tenured positions in top orchestras in Detroit, Jacksonville, Toronto, and Puerto Rico, and have also been accepted to such distinguished festivals as the Verbier Festival and Tanglewood Music Center. As an Edwards Instruments performing artist, Oft helped design the new T350-HB tenor trombone model and has his own exclusive line of tenor and alto trombone mouthpieces with Griego Mouthpieces. In spring 2014, Oft released his debut album, "First Look." To pay tribute to the legacy of the great Joannes Rochut — a former principal trombone of the BSO — Oft is currently recording all the Rochut Etudes in HD video for YouTube students worldwide.