James Markey joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Bass Trombone in Fall 2012 following a 15-year tenure in the New York Philharmonic as Associate Principal (1997-2007) and Bass Trombone (2007-2012), and a two-year tenure as Principal Trombone of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1995-1997).
Mr. Markey regularly appears as a soloist, including with the Boston Pops, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, the United States Army Band (“Pershing’s Own”), the Hora Decima Brass Ensemble, the New York Staff Band of the Salvation Army, and the Hanover Wind Symphony. He is a founding member of the National Brass Ensemble.
A sought-after educator, Mr. Markey has been a featured artist and clinician numerous times at the International Trombone Festival, the American (formerly Eastern) Trombone Workshop, and the conferences of the New Jersey Music Educators Association and the New York State School Music Association. He has also appeared as a guest recitalist and clinician at major educational institutions around the country.
Mr. Markey serves on the trombone faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA. In addition to his collegiate teaching, Mr. Markey is at the forefront of the Suzuki Brass movement, and is one of eight certified Suzuki trombone instructors in the world. A passionate believer in early childhood education in brass playing, he is founder of the Suzuki Brass program at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division. He has past served on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Mannes College: the New School for Music, New York University, Purchase College (SUNY), Longy School of Music, Montclair State University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division.
Mr. Markey has released five solo recordings: Offroad (tenor trombone, 2003); On Base (bass trombone, 2009); the Bass Trombonist’s Listening Guide, a joint album of orchestral and opera excerpts for bass trombone with Denson Paul Pollard; Psychedelia (bass trombone, 2015), and Extraordinary Foundations (with tubist Mike Roylance, 2023). He is also a featured soloist on A Beautiful Noise, a compilation of solos for tenor and bass trombone produced by the Columbus State University Trombone Choir, and on the Hora Decima Brass Ensemble's recording of Janko Nilović's Concerto for Two Trombones.
Mr. Markey studied with Joseph Alessi at the Juilliard School, where he received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees in 2005 and 2006.
