Trombone Professor Bids Farewell With Concert Before Retirement

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Gerald Sloan

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Boston Mountain Brassworks, the university’s faculty brass quintet, will give a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the Fine Arts Center’s Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.

The quintet includes professor Richard Rulli and graduate assistant Jennifer Fox on trumpet, professor Timothy Thomson on French horn, professor Gerald Sloan on trombone and professor Benjamin Pierce on tuba. All of the members are part of the department of music in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences 

This will be the last Brassworks performance for two of the members. Sloan will retire this spring after teaching at the university for more than 40 years and Fox, a student in the trumpet studio, will graduate.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Sloan said of his retirement. “I learned as much from my students as they learned from me.”

Sloan joined the university in 1970, where he has directed several ensembles and taught low brass, jazz studies and music history. He was principal trombone with the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra for several years.

“Dr. Sloan will be impossible to replace, both in the department and in our hearts,” said Ronda Mains, professor of flute and music education and chair of the department. “He has won us all over not only with his deep musical knowledge and experience, but with his laidback accepting attitude and dry sense of humor. He is one of a kind and the department is a better place because of his presence. He will be missed!”

Sloan served twice on the faculty of the International Trombone Workshop and was invited to speak at the International Trombone Festival in 2004. His book, “Orchestral Recordings for Low Brass Players,” was published in 1997 and a duo album, “Squirrel Fishing,” featuring Jon Barrios on bass, was released in 2007.

Boston Mountain Brassworks rehearses twice a week, gives a university concert each semester, conducts concerts and master classes throughout the region and undertakes annual tours. Concert programs include pieces that range from Renaissance brass to contemporary brass quintet compositions and jazz.

The upcoming performance will feature works by D. Scarlatti, John Stevens, Osvaldo Lacerda and Paul Hindemith. It is free and open to the public.