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He is a tubist, string bassist, author and teacher
born in Philadelphia. He began
playing the tuba while still young and by the time he was 12 he was
performing in boy scout, brass and marching bands in his local area. He began taking lessons with the encouragement
of his brother and included the string bass to his repertoire to help him
raise money for him to study in New York. In 1940 he enrolled in the Curtis Institute of Music and
in the ensuing years he performed with the National Symphony Orchestra in
Washington DC and the Southern Symphony Orchestra in Columbia, South
Carolina. He returned to New
York and did various jobs including decorating windows and selling cameras
while he freelanced as a musician.
In 1944 his fortunes changed ans he was taken on as an orchestral
member for the musical The Seven Lively Arts which would be followed
by a two year stint with the original Broadway production of Carousel and
Roger and Hammerstein's Allegro. At the same time he was in demand in the broadcasting
industry for radio shows such as The Firestone Hour and appeared in
the cast of the film Carnegie Hall. In 1946 he became a member of Toscanini's NBC Symphony
and in 1949 he secured a position in the Philadelphia Orchestra. Staying with them for several
decades he also became part of the offshoot band the Philadelphia Brass
Ensemble and made literally hundreds of recordings with the orchestra and
the ensemble. These include
his solo Hindemith Tuba Sonata accompanied by Glenn Gould, Catch the Brass Ring where they went under the name Torchy Jones Quintet, The Italian
Album, Renaissance and Baroque Brass Masterpieces, A Festtval of
Carols in Brass and the Grammy winning The Glorious Sound of Brass and
The Antiphonal Music of Antonio Gabrieli. As a teacher he has taught hundreds of students, many of
which have gone on to become successful professional musicians, and as an
author he has written a series of orchestral study books for tubists and Daily
Routine - The Bell Scales.
In 2004 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the
International Tuba-Euphonium Association for his contribution to music.
Philadelphia Brass Ensemble recordings
Angels We Have Heard on
High (Traditional French/James
Chadwick/Edward Barnes)
CBS MK 7033 (CD: A Festival of Carols in Brass)
Sources:
- http://www.iteaonline.org/Journal/32N1/32N1lifetimeawards.shtml
- http://www.windsongpress.com/brass%20players/tuba/torchinsky.htm
- http://www.encoremupub.com/Tuba/excerpts.htm
- http://www.encoremupub.com/Tuba/T23.htm
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