John Sipher: Recollections

This piece was written in the winter and spring of 2019. Recollections is intended to be a set of memories from any generic period of time of someone’s life, that one has hints of through the course of the day. The piece starts with a waking of sorts, followed by a growing storm of memories and thoughts, eventually calming again with gentle canon.

This piece was written with the BOSS RC-300 Loop Pedal specifically in mind. However, it can be performed with any loop pedal with the following capabilities:

• Three independent channels capable of varying lengths, with tempo and loop sync.
• Microphone input.
• Headphone output for monitoring and additional click/rhythm track for time keeping.
• Transposition function capable of adding a minor third to the input.

John Sipher has been the principal trombonist of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra since 2015. Prior to his current position, he has held principal trombone positions with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and was a fellow at the New World Symphony.

A native of Roanoke, Virginia, he received his bachelor’s degree in Music Education with a minor in Jazz Studies from James Madison University and his Master of Music in trombone performance from Yale University. In addition to his orchestral appointments, he has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic, and the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra.

As an educator, John has served as a trombone instructor at Hamilton College and the University of Northern Colorado, and has presented masterclasses and recitals across the country. John is an active contributor of music to the trombone repertoire, composing and arranging music primarily for trombone ensembles and for trombone and loop pedal. John is a Conn-Selmer performing artist.