Acclaimed musical duo Ronald and Avis Romm will perform in a Trumpet and Piano Celebration Concert on Thursday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, 105 S. Boone Street.This free public event is the second of three concerts in the ETSU Department of Music’s “Week of Musical Celebrations” commemorating the start of ETSU’s Centennial year.

The series also includes the Centennial Celebration Concert on Sunday, Oct. 10, at 3 p.m., and the Steinway Dedication and Celebration Concert featuring The 5 Browns on Friday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., both in the D.P. Culp University Center’s Martha Street Culp Auditorium. Both the Trumpet and Piano Celebration and the Steinway Dedication and Celebration Concert are co-sponsored by James J. and Sandra Powell, longtime supporters of ETSU and the Department of Music.

Both Juilliard-trained musicians and noted performers, the Romms have appeared before over 100 million people.

Ronald Romm, who was born in New York and grew up in California, began his career as a soloist at the age of 10, and was a member of his family’s band, the Romm-Antics, at age 12.

As a teen, he became a regular performer around Los Angeles with a variety of ensembles. After a few years at the University of Southern California, he moved to New York and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Juilliard. He soon established himself as a top freelance musician, performing with the Radio City Music Hall Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic, as well as in Broadway shows, church concerts, the circus, and ice shows.

In 1971, Romm joined the newly formed Canadian Brass, which later established itself as the premiere brass ensemble in the world. He retired from the group in 2000 after participating in over 4,500 concerts, 60 recordings, numerous television concert specials and videos, and hundreds of master classes.

Romm has shared the stage with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval, Jon Faddis, Doc Severinsen, and many others. In 2001, he was appointed professor of trumpet and B.A. Nugent Professor of Music Performance at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he continues to maintain a full teaching schedule. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist.

Avis Romm, who began playing piano at age 3, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Juilliard, where she performed with the Juilliard Ensemble, the American Opera Center and the Juilliard Accompanying Staff, and as a freelance and recording artist.

In addition, she appeared as a solo and ensemble pianist for radio, television and stage throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Later, based in Canada, she soon found herself in demand as both a pianist and music director and worked with numerous ensembles. She became music director of the Theater Aquarius, receiving critical acclaim for many of her productions.

Mrs. Romm returned to the U.S. in the early 1990s, and, in addition to performing regularly with internationally renowned artists, she has worked extensively as a musical/vocal coach and pianist/conductor.

She is a specialist in the Carabo-Cone Method, a sensory-motor approach to music learning, and spearheaded a project by Yamaha Music Canada to integrate music education and classroom activities in public schools. A Steinway Performing Artist, she has been a professor of piano at colleges in both the U.S. and Canada, and she has edited several popular piano editions of works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann and Debussy that are available from Minstrel Press.

Together, the Romms continue an active concert career as a trumpet and piano duo.

In 2001-02, they presented their stage show, “A Trumpeter’s Dream,” in 35 cities across the United States, receiving critical acclaim. They have released two CDs entitled “Wellness for the Soul, Volume 1: Seeing the Light” and “Wellness for the Soul, Volume 2: Living the Dream,” both on their Romm Enterprises label.

The Romms, who have performed at ETSU several times during the past 10 years, will be joined on the program with their longtime friend, Dr. David Champouillon, ETSU professor of trumpet and jazz studies and director of the university’s jazz program.

Champouillon, a Performing Artist for Bach Trumpets, is leader of The Jazz Doctors, a popular regional ensemble, and has been a soloist with symphonies and chamber orchestras throughout the U.S. and abroad. The former USAF solo jazz/classic trumpeter has appeared with such artists as Lenore Raphael, Marvin Hamlisch, the Moody Blues, Mel Torme, Arturo Sandoval, Gary Graffman, Linda Kelm and Disney Ice Shows.

Champouillon presents master classes/lectures and performs throughout the country in classical, jazz and festival settings. He has written several trumpet books and articles and given lectures for the International Trumpet Guild and holds a doctorate in music from the University of Northern Colorado.

For more information or special assistance for those with disabilities, call the Department of Music at 423-439-4276.

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