TBJ140: John Lofton, Bass Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on YOLO, diversity in the arts and a crazy trip to Venezuela

TBJ140: John Lofton, Bass Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic on YOLO, diversity in the arts, and a crazy trip to Venezuela. John Lofton is a great guy and thoughtful musician and shared some great insights and ideas with Andrew & Lance.

In this fun and lively discussion, we cover:

• Oh yeah, and Lance
• Carol dissed Lance
• John starting with the LA Phil officially in 2008 but played as a long term sub starting in 2004
• How the long term sub thing works for or against you
• It can be a challenge for black players if they don't know you as a person
• McGurk Effect
• Audition committees wield a lot of power
• Committees can sometimes tend to look for alter egos
• Diversity in the arts
• The recent tragedies and the response
• This creates an opportunity for orchestras in how they present themselves
• LA Phil tour to Venezuela
• Impact of El Sistema
• YOLA
• Resident Fellows Program at the LA Phil
• Cultural relevance with orchestras and the cities they serve
• Andrew at a James Brown concert
• John seeing an orchestral concert in Jr High in Philadelphia, getting the bug but seeing the lack of diversity and how/when that changed in the Philadelphia Orchestra
• The challenge of getting to a critical mass
• The comparisons with women joining professional orchestras
• Herd immunity from idiots
• Lift Every Voice project with Wycliffe and Jim Nova
• Safety concerns when on tour in Venezuela
• Music teaching in Venezuela coming from a place of love
• Alternating Mahler Symphonies with the Bolivar Orchestra
• LA Phil plans for the fall
• Fire-hosing content to the internet
• Michael Parker is remarkable, let him know!
• John's upcoming session in The Brass Junkies Academy Summer Workshop

LINKS

• John's LA Phil bio page
• Bob Cole Conservatory bio page
• Mendez Brass Institute bio page
• McGurk Effect YouTube vid
• Lift Every Voice And Sing YouTube vid

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Expertly produced by Will Houchin with love, care, and enthusiasm.

From his bio:

A native of Philadelphia and a graduate of the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, JOHN LOFTON began his professional career as Bass Trombonist with the State Orchestra of Mexico. After his years in Toluca, Mexico, Lofton moved to Hawaii to perform with the Honolulu Symphony and later became the Bass Trombonist of the Phoenix Symphony. In 2008 he was appointed to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Bass Trombonist. In addition to his responsibilities with the LA Phil, he has toured and recorded with the Cleveland Orchestra and performed with the San Francisco Symphony as well as the Santa Fe Opera. Lofton’s musical interests also include chamber music; he has performed with several brass quintets and is a faculty member at the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute featuring the Summit Brass. He teaches at California State University Long Beach, and has students from several L.A. colleges. In addition to appearing on several sound stage recordings, Lofton has produced both solo and chamber recordings.