Joeseph Alessi talks trombone, The Juilliard School, David Geffen Hall, & life without trombone.

Longtime Principal Trombonist with the New York Philharmonic and Juilliard faculty member Joseph Alessi discusses his musical childhood, the key to inspiring his students, and a recent health scare that jeopardized Joe's career and caused him to consider a life without the trombone.  Love this episode, watch another Speaking Soundly episode featuring Metropolitan Opera Orchestra trombonist Dr. Denson Paul Pollard who had an unconventional path to the stage. Denson Paul Pollard credits his grit, determination, and humble roots for taking him from a small town in rural Georgia to Carnegie Hall. Denson Paul Pollard’s work ethic is inspiring as he describes the jobs he’s held from Iowa to Hong Kong and his daily commute from Indiana to New York City. Denson Paul Pollard talks about Principal Trombonist of the New York Philharmonic and what he thinks about getting a degree from The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University where he teaches compared with a conservatory like The Juilliard School.    • Denson Paul Pollard talks Bass Trombone, C...   And don't miss last week's episode of Speaking Soundly: Juilliard freshman Spencer Rubin is either practicing the oboe, working on his oboe reeds, or making a TikTok video for his 1.5 million followers. The young oboist is taking the musical world by storm as he chases his dream of becoming a professional oboist, and entertains us along the way with his irreverent, honest, and hilarious viral videos.    • Spencer Rubin talks classical music's acce...   Photograph of Joseph Alessi by Tom Moore The Speaking Soundly theme song is composed by Joseph Saba/Stewart Winter and used by permission of Videohelper. Speaking Soundly was co-created by David Krauss and Jessica Handelman. This interview has been edited and condensed to fit the time format. Episode copyright © 2022 Artful Narratives Media.