Peter Ellefson - À La Manière De Defaye (2017)

Jean-Michel Defaye (b. 1932) is a wonderful French composer who, among other significant trombone works, has written six short character pieces in the style of historically important composers. I have paired each of his “In the Manner of…” pieces with a work (or two shorter works) by the honored composer. This is a concept which I have been using on recitals for years and was finally able to set aside a few days to record them. The fun part, which proved at times quite challenging, was to find a piece or pieces to pair with Mssr. Defaye’s.

Trombonist Peter Ellefson grew up in southern Oregon and now holds the rank of Professor of Music at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he is also Chair of the Brass Department. He has performed, recorded and toured internationally with the Chicago Symphony and the New York Philharmonic. He has also performed with the Boston, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, National and Oregon Symphonies among many others. From 1992-2002, he was a member of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and served as principal trombone for many cycles of Seattle Opera’s renowned productions of Richard Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. He has recorded music for over 100 motion picture, IMAX, TV and video game soundtracks. Prof. Ellefson is a frequent recitalist and soloist. Composers Anthony Barfield, James Stephenson and Kevin Walczyk have written concertos for him. Chamber music credits include the Canadian Brass, Chicago Chamber Musicians, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Chicago Trombone Consort, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet, Proteus 7, and the Trombones de Costa Rica. Prof. Ellefson has taught at Northwestern University, Roosevelt University, the University of Costa Rica and the Music Academy of the West. His first solo CD, “Pura Vida” was released in 2010 and his Internet home can be found at www.peterellefson.com.