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By Nolan Vallier
Collection Overview
Title: Douglas Yeo Historical Trombone Collection and Papers, ca. 1870-2023
ID: 12/5/83
Primary Creator: Douglas Yeo (1955 -)
Extent: 13.6 cubic feet
Arrangement: Materials are arranged into two series: Series 1) Music Instruments, ca. 1870-2017 and 2) Papers, ca. 1950. Series 1 is arranged in two sub-series: sub-series 1) Historic Low Brass Instrument Collection and sub-series 2) MRI Trombone Research.
Date Acquired: 04/26/2023. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Brass Instruments, Faculty, Faculty Papers, Instrumental music, Music, School of, Musical Instrument Collections, Musical Instrument Makers, Music instruction, Music teachers, Sousa, John Philip, Symphony Orchestra
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Consists of historic valve and slide tenor, bass, and contrabass trombones and personal papers, documenting Doug Yeo's career as a trombonist and collector of historic trombones. Of note is the Shuman trombone, an unusual ergonomically designed tenor trombone. Also of note is a CS Schmidt bass trombone owned by Boston Symphony Orchestra bass trombonist Kauko (Koko) Emil Kahila.
Biographical Note
Douglas "Doug" Yeo (1955 - ) was born in Monterey, California. At the age of nine, he began performing on the trombone in New York and Oak Ridge, New Jersey. In 1973, he graduated from Jefferson Township High School. He earned a bachelors of music degree from Wheaton College (IL) and a master of arts degree from New York University. Between 1981 and 1985, Yeo performed bass trombone with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, serving as a faculty member at both the Peabody Conservatory of Music (MD) and the Catholic University of America (DC). He served as the bass trombonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1985 until 2012. During this time, he also served on faculty at the New England Conservatory of Music. Following this, he served as Professor of Trombone at Arizona State University until 2016. In 2019, he was appointed to the faculty at Wheaton College and in 2022 he served as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Yeo is a leading scholar of historic low brass instruments and author or co-author of the following books: Mastering the Trombone (EMKO 2008); The One Hundred: Essential Works for the Symphonic Bass Trombonist (Encore 2017); Serpents, Bass Horns, and Ophicleides at the Bate Collection (Oxford 2019); An Illustrated Dictionary for the Modern Trombone, Tuba, and Euphonium Player (Illinois 2021); and Homer Rodeheaver and the Rise of the Gospel Music Industry (Illinois 2021).
Yeo was the first bass trombonist to solo with the Baltimore and Boston Symphony Orchestras. During his career as a soloist, Yeo gave the premiere of Vaclav Nehlybel's Concerto for Bass Trombone; the bass trombone premiere of John Williams' Tuba Concerto; Lawrence Wolfe's Wildfire; and Norman Bolter's Temptation for serpent and string quartet; and Simon Proctor's Concerto for Serpent and Orchestra, under the direction of John Williams; and Christopher Brubeck's Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra, among many other appearances. In 2014, Yeo was awarded the International Trombone Association's ITA Award, the highest award offered by the association.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Accruals:
Douglas Yeo donated the Davis Shuman Brochure on October 4, 2023. Douglas Yeo donated the MRI Tenor and Bass Trombones on April 14, 2026.
Acquisition Source:
Douglas Yeo
Acquisition Method:
Gift.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Music Instruments, ca. 1870-2017],
[
Series 2: Papers, ca. 1950-2023],
[All]
- Series 1: Music Instruments, ca. 1870-2017
- Consists of historic trombones, mouthpieces, and specially modified instruments used for research. Materials are arranged in two sub-series: sub-series 1) Historic Low Brass Instrument Collection and sub-series 2) MRI Trombone Research.
- Sub-Series 1: Historic Low Brass Instrument Collection, ca. 1870-1950
- Consists of historic valve and piston trombones. Materials are unarranged. Included within this collection are an "angular trombone" by David Shuman, which egonomically angled the slide 45 degrees away from the body; a C.S. Schmidt Bass Trombone -- one of the only known examples by this maker -- originally owned by Boston Symphony Orchestra bass trombonist Kauko (Koko) Emil Kahila; and a Salvation Army contrabass trombone -- one of only five known to survive -- originally owned by Don Kittle.
- Brass Instrument 1: Lyon and Healy rotary valve bass trombone, ca. 1870
- Constains no serial number. Accession no. 2023.1205083.001.
- Brass Instrument 2: Champion Silver Piston valve tenor trombone, ca. 1920
- Contains no serial number. Case contains #16 Pinard Model H.N.White Mouthpiece, ca. 1911. Accession No. 2023.1205083.002.
- Brass Instrument 3: Carl Fischer Artist Grade piston valve tenor trombone, ca. 1897
- Contains no serial number. Includes #16 York and Son Mouthpiece, ca. 1902. Also includes photocopies of Sears and Roebuck 1895 and 1897 catalogs, signed by Andre Larsen. Accession No. 2023.1205083.003.
- Brass Instrument 4: Salvation Army Triumph Class A contrabass trombone, ca. 1911
- Serial no. 11732. Accession No. 2023.1205083.004.
- Brass Instrument 5: Shuman and Son Jaguar Model 8 tenor trombone, ca. 1950
- Serial number 248. Stamped with the following: British Patent no. 681787, French Patent no. 1.302.802, US Patent no. 2669152. Includes crooked leadpipe and Couesnon mouthpiece. Accession No. 2023.1205083.005.
- Brass Instrument 6: C.F. Schmidt bass trombone, ca. 1910
- Serial number 20570. Includes leather-pull E-attachement. Accession No. 2023.1205083.006.
- Sub-Series 2: MRI Trombone Research, 2017
- Consists of specially modified tenor and bass trombone used in Germany during Yeo's research on breath support and oral cavity position while playing, in which Yeo performed while receiving MRI scans. Mouthpieces are plastic. Tubing and bell flairs for both trombones are brass. Note: Instrument Case 1, contains paper records taped to the sides of the container regarding travel and care of instruments. Materials are arranged by material type.
- Instrument Case 1
- Cylindrical cardboard instrument case. Photos, written instructions of packing methods, and instrument transportation proof documents are taped to the outside of the case.
- Item 1: Tenor Trombone Bell: Yamaha, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass bell for tenor trombone. Accession No. 2026.1205083.001.
- Item 2: Bass Trombone Bell: Yamaha, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass bell for bass trombone. Accession No. 2026.1205083.002.
- Box 2
- Item 1: MRI Tenor Trombone Tube #1, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.003a.
- Item 2: MRI Tenor Trombone Tube #2, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.003b
- Item 3: MRI Tenor Trombone Tube #3, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.003c.
- Item 4: MRI Tenor Trombone Tube #4, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.003d.
- Item 5: MRI Tenor Trombone Bell Mouthpipe, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass mouthpipe. Pipe contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.003e
- Box 3
- Item 1: MRI Bass Trombone Tube #1, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.004a.
- Item 2: MRI Bass Trombone Tube #2, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.004b.
- Item 3: MRI Bass Trombone Tube #3, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.004c.
- Item 4: MRI Bass Trombone Tube #4, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass tube. Tube contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.004d.
- Item 5: MRI Bass Trombone Bell Mouthpipe, ca. 2017
- Yamaha non-ferrous brass mouthpipe. Pipe contains written instructions on how to connect it to the rest of the tubing. Accession No. 2026.1205083.004e.
- Mouthpiece Box 5
- Item 1: MRI Trombone Mouthpiece #1, undated
- Clear, plastic. Contains inscription on mouthpiece: "KELLY - 51D". Accession No. 2026.1205083.005
- Item 2: MRI Trombone Mouthpiece #2, undated
- Clear, plastic. Contains inscription on mouthpiece: "KELLY - 5G - USA". Accession No. 2026.1205083.006.
- Item 3: MRI Trombone Mouthpiece #3, undated
- Clear, plastic. Contains inscription on mouthpiece: "KELLY - 1 1/2 G". Accession No. 2026.1205083.007.
- Item 4: MRI Trombone Mouthpiece #4, undated
- Clear, plastic. Accession No. 2026.1205083.008.
- Series 2: Papers, ca. 1950-2023
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Davis Shuman Angular Trombone Brochure, ca. 1950
- Folder 2: Approaching the Serpent: An Historical and Pedagogical Overview, 2010
- DVD with liner notes.
- Folder 3: "The Life and Legacy of John Kuhn," ITEA Journal, 2023
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Music Instruments, ca. 1870-2017],
[
Series 2: Papers, ca. 1950-2023],
[All]
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