Ken Wolff | Principal Trombone

Ken Wolff began studying the trombone at age 12. Within 3 years, he was playing professionally throughout the San Francisco, CA area with Classical, Jazz, Dixie and Rock and Roll groups such as the Rich Martini Big Band, San Francisco Dixie Company, Choral Brass Quintet and others. After additional studies as a scholarship student at Interlochen and Tanglewood, and the University of Massachusetts Ken pursued a career playing the trombone professionally. Ken has freelanced throughout the country and played with Orchestras throughout the world.   He was named a Shires Artist by the SE Shires Company in 2006, the manufacturer who provides Ken with the trombones he plays and have sponsored him as a clinician at the Eastern Trombone Workshop, Interlochen Arts Camp, International Trombone Festival and various other solo performances and venues.

An active solo artist, clinician and teacher, Ken’s primary ensemble responsibilities are with the Capital Wind Symphony as their principal trombonist, but he equally enjoys playing with the Baltimore Symphony when asked, Doc Dykeman’s Big Band and focusing on the expansion of trombone as a solo and chamber instrument when playing with other trombone colleagues such as Christopher Dudley of the Baltimore Symphony and Matthew Guilford of the National Symphony with whom Ken had a trio called Tres Bone, and David Murray of National Symphony and Blair Bollinger of the Philadelphia Orchestra who joined Ken on the stage with Capital Winds in a performance of Rosa Parks Boulevard by Michael Dougherty during the 2013 season.  Ken is also an active teacher with many of the top performing students in the MD, DC, VA area in his studio.  His students dominate the youth orchestras and honors county programs in the region and many leave his studio to pursue professional careers in music.  Ken’s teachers have included: Jeannie Nelson, Ed Neumeister, Ned Meredith, Mitchell Ross, Mark Lawrence, John Marcellus, Joe Alessi and David Sporny.