Rath on the Road 2009
Our Rath on the Road tour has been very successful in 2008 and over the last 12 months we've visited players all over the UK.
Plans are well underway for Rath on the Road in 2009. We already have some dates which we'll be announcing early in January, but if you're interested in arranging a Rath on the Road date, please contact us.
You can find out more about Rath on the Road here.
Posted 19/12/08
We're now on Skype!
Anyone who uses the Skype messaging system can now 
get in touch with us. We're now set up with audio and video as well as the Skype messaging service so you can contact us wherever you are in world, without it costing you anything at all!
To find us simply search for "Michael Rath Trombones" or "rath.trombones" and add us to your contacts list. We'll be happy to talk to you about anything trombone or Rath related, so just get in touch.
International Staff Band now playing Rath trombones
We're delighted to announce that the International Staff Band of the Salvation Army are now using Michael Rath trombones. ' Andrew Justice, Principal Trombone of the ISB said - " We are delighted with the end-result of several months of trials of various options for our new trombones. The ability to try different combinations of components is a massive advantage in matching up different players to create an ideal sectional sound. The level of service and support we have received from Rath has been second-to none."
Pictured are (L-R) Gordon Camsey, Stuart Hall, Brad Turnbull and Andrew Justice on their recent tour to Boston, USA.
Updated 18/09/08
Barrie Webb at Carnegie Hall
Barrie Webb, one of the world's leading exponents 
of contemporary music is appearing in recital at Carnegie Hall, New York on September 28th. Barrie will be appearing with the Silo String Quartet in a programme of new Australian and Korean works for trombone and string quartet.
The programme will also be recorded in 2009 for CD, and presented at the 2009 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
For more details visit Carnegie Hall Box Office.
David Gibson
Updated 18/09/08
David will be appearing at the University of Oaklahoma on Septmeber 25th and 26th and at Oaklahoma State Univeristy on September 28th. He'll also be performing at "Giants of Jazz - a tribute to Slide Hampton in South Orange, NJ on October 11th.
We've been working with New York jazz artist David Gibson some time now, and we're delighted to be associated with him. 
David is one of the most progessive trombonists and all round jazz musicians working in New York and his biography speaks for itself.
David has just launched his own Facebook page. It has all of David latest news including gig dates as well as lots of video and audio. There are also tracks from David's new album "G-Rays". You can visit David's site at David Gibson on Facebook
"G-Rays" is David's latest album following his debut recording "Maya" and the "The Road to Delphi". "G-Rays" features David alongside Freddie Hendrix, Wayne Escoffery, Rick Germanson, Dwayne Burno and Quincy Davis. In David's own words "We just got together for a few hours...we made some music...we ate some sushi..and we had some fun. The result was "G-Rays".
Look out for the American Rath Pack album which is due to completed later this year featuring David alongside Michael Dease and James Burton.
Posted 11/08/08
New mouthpieces
We've had lots of requests from players who are really pleased with their Rath large shank tenor trombone mouthpieces who wanted the same mouthpiece in a small shank version.
We're very happy to announce that all of these mouthpieces are now available and you can now get all Rath tenor trombone mouthpieces with a small shank fitting. For more details visit our mouthpieces section.
Posted 11/08/08
Leadpipe models updated
We've updated the information about our leadpipes to include the new models that we've just introduced. A full list of all the leadpipes available for Rath trombones is now available on our leadpipes page.
Posted 04/06/08
"Rath on the Road" comes to Cornwall
The next stop on the "Rath on the Road" tour is going to be in Redruth, Cornwall on Saturday 23rd August. It's a great opportunity to play all the Rath trombones, bell, slides, leadpipes, mouthpieces and all other things "Rath". You can also book a testing session with Chris. For more details please call 01484 660555 or contact us.
Posted 04/06/08
New Mouthpieces
We have two great new mouthpiece models now available. The new L5 M.D. has been designed with Michael Rath artist Michael Dease. 
It features the same cup diameter as our other L5 mouthpieces, but with a deeper cup and more open throat and backbore. This gives it a great open feeling throught the whole register, with a very full sound. Players who are using this mouthpiece have commented particularly on the ease in the upper register.
The new S7 M.G. mouthpiece has been redesigned with our friend Marc Godfroid. Subtle but very distinct changes have been made to the mouthpiece and the end result is a big improvement on the old S7.
Both of these mouthpieces are available now from us directly or from your Michael Rath distributor.
New Leadpipes
We're delighted to be able to announce some new leadpipe developments, especially for R4 and 
R4F players.
The new 5 series leadpipes are now available. These are a completely new design and feature a more centred, focused response with great partial slotting, but still with a very open feel.
The 5, 5A (more focused) and 5B (more open) leadpipes are available now directly from us or your Rath distributor in brass, nickel silver and silver.
All of these new leadpipes will fit any Rath R4 or R4F trombones that have detachable leadpipes (models from made from 2001 onwards).
Musical Aldave are new Michael Rath distributor
We're extremely pleased to announce that Musical Aldave are now distributing Rath trombones, mouthpieces and accessories in Spain. 
Located in Vitoria, Musical Aldave are a very well known and established company with extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff. Their trombone specialist is Alfredo Fernández and he'd be delighted to hear from you.
Alfredo will have a selection of Rath trombones, mouthpieces and other accessories at the "Escuela Comarcal de Música del Comtat" Summer School in Alicante from July 16th - 20th, where one of the tutors will be Michael Rath artist Carol Jarvis.
For more information on the "Escuela Comarcal de Música del Comtat" visit the website, and for more information on Musical Aldave go to www.musicalaldave.com
Rath Trombones at Eurobrass
For anyone visitng the upcoming Eurobrass brass band festival, there'll be an ideal opportunity to try out our trombones, options and accessories with our Dutch distributor Atelier Pfeiffer.
The Eurobrass event is happening on Saturday June 14th in the city of Drachten, which is conveniently located just north of Amsterdam.
For more details visit Atelier Pfeiffer and Eurobrass.
Atelier Pfeiffer will also be at the Black Dyke Band's workshop and concert in Almkerk on 29th August - more details coming soon.
Posted 04/06/08
New Corpus Quartet CD released - "Fo(u)r Corpus"
The Corpus Trombone Quartet have just released their latest CD, "Fo(u)r Corpus". It features contemporary music from leading Hungarian composers, including several pieces especially written for the quartet.
It's available from us now. To order simply call 01484 660555, or contact us.
Look out for more from the Corpus Quartet, including video highlights from their recent UK concert with Mark Nightingale coming soon.
Brass Herald
The Brass Herald has established itself over 
a very short time as a very diverse, informative and entertaining magazine covering all aspects of brass playing. A recent edition featured articles on new Opera North bass trombonist and Michael Rath artist Mark Frost as well as an in depth feature on us.
The editor of the Brass Herald, Philip Biggs has very kindly agreed to allow us to make these available for download.
| Mark Frost, page 1 |  |
| Mark Frost, page 2 | |
| Michael Rath, page 1 | |
| Michael Rath, page 2 | |
You can visit the Brass Herald website for more information, news and subscription details.
British Trombone Society in Leicester
Saturday May 3rd sees the British Trombone Society celebrating the lyrical playing of the late Don Lusher as well as focusing on the trombone in the brass band. 
Among the many performers that are going to be featured are Michael Rath artists Brett Baker and Nick Hudson, along with Chris Jeans, Jeremy Price, Bob Hughes and Gordon Campbell. As well as trombone choir sessions, they'll be workshops on improvisation led by Jeremy Price and a session on new works for trombone and brass band featuring the Ratby Cooperative Band. Rounding off the day will be a full concert featuring all the artists and the Ratby Cooperative Band.
We'll be there with a large selection of trombones, mouthpieces and other accessories. If you'd like to set up a one-on-one testing session with Chris, please call 01484 660555 or contact us. For futher information and to book tickets visit the British Trombone Society
Posted 07/04/08
International Trombone Festival
The International Trombone Festival is being held in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA 
from May 28th to 31st and we'll have our trombones, mouthpieces and other accessories with our friends at the Dillon Music Inc. stand. For anyone's who's interested in trying out our instruments this is a great opportunity and we can also arrange one-on-one testing sessions so that you can really get to grips with the possibilities that Rath trombones can give you. If you'd like to set up a session for the festival just get in touch.
Posted 07/04/08
Corpus Quartet with Mark Nightingale and guests
The acclaimed Corpus Quartet will be visiting the UK in May for a series of concerts and masterclasses. The highlight will be a concert with Mark Nightingale on Saturday May 17th at New Mill WMC, near Holmfirth. It promises to be a great evening, but tickets for this event are strictly limited, so get in touch to book now!
Tickets are only available in advance directly from us, so call 01484 660555 or send us a message.
Posted 07/04/08
American Rath
The original Rath Pack project has been something that we've been very proud to have been involved with over the last few years. Bringing together wonderful musicians on innovative projects like this has always been something that we've been very interested in doing. So when three of New York's leading trombonists wanted to do something they called "American Rath" we couldn't wait to hear the results. Read more here at American Rath.
Posted 29/02/08
Eastern Trombone Workshop
For everyone who's visiting the Eastern Trombone Workshop, held at Fort Myer, Virginia March 13th - 15th, 
we'll have our trombones, mouthpieces and other accessories at the Dillon Music stand. It's a great event and a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on all of our trombones and try them for yourself. They'll also be the opportunity to get an extended testing session for those of you who really want to get to grips with all the possibilities that our trombones give you.
For more details visit the Eastern Trombone Workshop website.
Posted 29/02/08
New Rath initiative for UK Brass Bands
With everyone's seemingly ever-busier schedules, finding time to come and see us can be difficult. If you're part of a section in a brass band, big band or orchestra and you're all excited by the possibilities of Michael Rath trombones then go through to our information pages for details of something new that we're introducing for 2008.
Posted 14/01/08
Dutch Bass Trombone Open
Mark Frost is going to be one of the guest tutors for this year's Dutch Bass Trombone Open. This residential course, held in Holland will also feature Douglas Yeo, Phil Teele and Ben van Dijk. For more details visit our DBTO page.
Posted 23/01/08
Mark Frost to premiere new Elgar Howarth Concerto
Michael Rath artist and bass trombone star Mark Frost will premiere Elgar Howarth's new bass trombone concerto, 
"Spooks - an outrage for bass trombone, brass ensemble and percussion" as part of this year's Festival of Brass at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester UK, on Saturday January 26th. It promises to be a extremely entertaining piece as well as being an important addition to the bass trombone repertoire.
For more details and to book tickets, visit RNCM
Mark will also be performing the concerto in a concert at the Royal College of Music on Thursday February 7th with the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble, conducted by Nigel Black. For more details visit RCM.
Brett Baker will also be premiering a new concert work by Derek Bourgeois entitled "Knightmare" in the concert given by the Black Dyke Band as part of the RNCM Festival of Brass on Friday January 25th.
Posted 14/01/08
RSS feed added
For those of you who use RSS feeds, we've now added one to help you keep up to date with everything that's going on in the world of Michael Rath Trombones. If you're new to RSS, this is a very simple and easy way of getting information about our latest updates sent straight to your internet browser. To subscribe simply click on the orange RSS feed logo in the toolbar or address bar of your browser (or the blue logo if you're using Safari).
