Mission

The Ritchie Trombone Choir Society supports and encourages the musical growth and development of the Ritchie Trombone Choir and its members.

The Ritchie Trombone Choir Society supports and encourages developing musicians.

The Ritchie Trombone Choir Society supports and encourages the growth and development of community within the arts.

Vision

The Ritchie Trombone Choir is well-known and highly regarded among musicians, music students and the broader public across the country. It has productive ties to the international trombone community. Its activities inspire children and youth to take up the trombone. Choir members have a lot of fun.

The Choir attracts good local trombone players and enjoys the support of the local community. It promotes a strong sense of community and commitment within the group and welcomes new members.

The Choir collaborates with musicians and artists of all kinds – brass players, string players, classical choirs, jazz and gospel choirs, percussionists and dancers, to mention a few – as well as featuring smaller groups from our own ranks. The Choir also has guest conductors, clinicians and ensemble players. Collaborations grow in number, ambition and success.

The Choir has a well-attended subscription series of highly entertaining concerts. These concerts are well-programmed and choreographed, look professional and have a strong focus on fun – for both the audience and the players.

The subscription series includes a wide range of repertoire played at a high level along with guest soloists and collaborators and interesting venues. These concerts are seen as annual not-to-be missed events by a devoted following. Audiences are enthusiastic and appreciative and cover a wide age range.

In addition to its regular subscription series, the Choir travels periodically to perform at interesting venues and events outside Edmonton, outside Alberta and outside Canada.

The Choir’s Artistic Director position is supported through funding and through on-going training in conducting, arranging and composition.

The Choir hosts trombone workshops including clinics, master classes and performances by local and international players as well as other attractions for the trombone community.

The Choir’s repertoire continues to grow in size and interest. It has lasting records of each season’s successful repertoire in annual recordings, including premiere recordings of commissioned works.

The Choir benefits the broader trombone community with a large, reputable library of commissioned works and arrangements, available on a website.

The Ritchie Trombone Choir Foundation awards scholarships, instruments and other assistance to developing musicians. In support of developing musicians and more fun programming, the Foundation acquires sets of instruments (e.g., contrabass and alto trombones, sackbuts and cornettos) that can be used by choir members and musicians in the community.

Top professional performers cite the RTCS as playing a key role in their development.

The Choir’s fund raising is sufficient to meet all its goals.