Douglas Yeo
Douglas Yeo - trombonist
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About Douglas Yeo
Douglas Yeo was born in Monterey, California, and grew up in Valley Stream, New York, where he began playing the trombone at the age of nine and Oak Ridge, New Jersey (where he graduated from Jefferson Township High School in 1973). A graduate of Wheaton College (IL) Conservatory and New York University, he joined the Boston Symphony as bass trombonist during the 1985 Boston Pops season after having held the same position for four years in the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. His broad-based musical background has included two years as a high school band director, a four-year tenure with the Goldman Band, and performances with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the Gerry Mulligan Big Band, and orchestras for numerous Broadway shows. Since coming to Boston, Mr. Yeo has been involved extensively in teaching, both at New England Conservatory of and at the Hamamatsu (Japan) International Wind Academy and Festival. Douglas Yeo has been a soloist with the Boston and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras as well as the Boston Pops Orchestra; on each occasion he was the first bass trombonist to perform as soloist with the orchestra. His recent solo appearances in Boston's Symphony Hall have included the Christopher Brubeck Bass Trombone Concerto in 1999 and 2000 with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra, which was broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System's "Evening at Pops" series, and his landmark 1997 performance of Simon Proctor's Serpent Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of John Williams; he thus became the first serpentist since the invention of the instrument in 1590 to perform as soloist with a professional orchestra. He also has presented frequent chamber music recitals of Harmoniemusik featuring serpent in Symphony Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and as part of the BSO's community outreach chamber music concerts. As one of the world's leading serpent and ophicleide players, Mr. Yeo has played with many early music groups including Boston Baroque and Boston's Handel & Haydn Society. His solo recordings, "Cornerstone," "Proclamation" (with Britain's Black Dyke Mills Band), "Two of a Mind" (with the Williams Fairey Band), "Take 1" and "Le Monde du Serpent," have received critical acclaim. In 1998 Mr. Yeo was appointed Music Director of the New England Brass Band, which has released four recordings under his direction, "Christmas Joy!, "Honour and Glory," "The Light of the World" and, in 2005, "This Is Christmas." Over the last twenty years he has premiered many works for bass trombone and serpent including pieces by Boston Symphony members Lawrence Wolfe and Norman Bolter as well as compositions by Vaclav Nelhybel, Gordon Langford, and David Fetter, among others. Douglas Yeo's award-winning web site (www.yeodoug.com) has been recognized as one of the Internet's most informative music sites. In addition, he is a prolific writer with dozens of articles and books to his credit. His interest in the history of the BSO led him to extensive research in the Boston Symphony archives, resulting in the publication of four photo/historical articles on BSO brass players from 1881 to the present. Mr. Yeo's many arrangements of music for trombone, bass trombone, trombone ensemble and brass ensemble are published by G. Schirmer, International Music, Sarastro Music and Southern Music. With his wife and two children, all brass players, the Yeo Family Brass has performed in many churches, camps and schools. A YAMAHA Performing Artist, Douglas Yeo works closely with YAMAHA in the design and production of the YBL-622 bass trombone and Signature Series mouthpiece he uses. In addition to playing bass trombone, serpent and ophicleide, he also plays bass trumpet and contrabass trombone when required in the Boston Symphony and has been known to play harmonica in a rock band.
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