John Sipher ’08MM appointed principal trombone of Syracuse Symphony

John Sipher ’08MM has been appointed principal trombone of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. He will begin performing with the orchestra of its summer season and will begin full time in September. 

BIOGRAPHY

John Sipher is a freelance trombonist currently residing in Miami Beach, Fla.  A musician with a diverse musical background, John performs orchestral, chamber, jazz and commercial music.  A proponent of new music, he commissioned pieces for a recital in December of 2007 from composers Jay Wadley, Daniel Louis Vezza, and Matthew Johnson.  John is also an accomplished teacher with a degree in music education and is available for private lessons and masterclasses.   John currently performs as a fellow in the New World Symphony in Miami Beach.  In March 2009, John was appointed to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra as their new principal trombonist.

John Sipher hails from Roanoke, VA where he began his trombone studies with Steve Hedrick.  He studied with Dr. Andrew B. Lankford at James Madison University, graduating cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in music education and a jazz studies minor. As a student teacher he gained considerable experience working with elementary, middle school and high school music students, teaching band, chorus, and jazz band. As a sophomore in 2004, John won the JMU Concerto/Aria Competition, with the honor of performing Launy Grondahl's Concerto with the JMU Symphony Orchestra.  In the summer of 2007, he attended the Bar Harbor Brass Camp and the Atlantic Brass Quintet Seminar.  John received his master's degree in trombone performance at Yale University under the direction of Scott Hartman.  Additional teachers and master classes have included Joseph Alessi, Massimo La Rosa, James Markey, Jorgen van Rijen, Ian Bousfield, Doug Yeo, Haim Avistur, John Faieta, Blair Bollinger, Matthew Guilford, and Matthew Vaughn.