Stephen Fissel, trombone, joins the faculty of the UW School of Music in Fall 2015 as an artist-in-residence in the instrumental performance program. He is a longtime member of the Seattle Symphony, having joined as a trombonist in 1981 after playing in orchestras in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Growing up in a small town in northern Indiana, he learned his passion for music playing trombone in his school music program, and guitar in his rock-and-roll band.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education and a Performer’s Certificate from the Indiana University School of Music, he played in the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and continued his trombone studies, commuting to Chicago for lessons. He had several great trombone teachers, but the two most influential were...