Charlie Vernon

Charlie Vernon began his orchestral career in September 1971 as bass

trombonist with the Baltimore Symphony. In 1980 he performed one season

with the San Francisco Symphony, before being chosen by Riccardo Muti to

play bass trombone with the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he played for

five seasons. Charlie joined the legendary brass section of the Chicago

Symphony Orchestra in 1986.

A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Charlie attended Brevard

College and Georgia State University, where he studied with Bill Hill as

well as Gail Wilson, professor of trombone at Arizona State University.

His mentor/teachers were Arnold Jacobs and Edward Kleinhammer,

respectively former tuba and bass trombone of the Chicago Symphony.

Charlie Vernon makes many solo and teaching appearances throughout

the world and has served on the faculties of Catholic University,

Brevard Music Center, Philadelphia College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt

University, the Curtis Institute, and Northwestern University.

Currently, he is Professor of Trombone at DePaul University in Chicago.

In April 1991, with the Chicago Symphony under Daniel Barenboim, he

gave the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Concerto for Bass

Trombone, which was commissioned by the Orchestra for its centennial. In

September 2006, he and the CSO premiered Chick a' Bone Checkout, a

virtuoso concerto for the alto, tenor and bass trombones and orchestra, written by composer-trombonist Christian Lindberg.

Charlie and his talented wife, Alison, have performed together for

many Euopean and American audiences and have commissioned several song

cycles for soprano, trombone and piano by the American composer Eric

Ewazen. Charlie and Alison have two sons - Mark, who is a professional

video game designer, and Gary, who is a college student.

As a part-time athlete, Charlie is an avid swimmer and a member of

the Evanston Masters Swim Team. He comments, "As time passes, I realize

that I must keep doing it, so that I can KEEP doing it!"