Meet the Professor

Arthur Jennings began his professional music training at the University of Michigan where he was a member of William D. Revelli's renowned band while earning a Bachelor of Music degree in wind performance. His principal teachers during that time were Glenn Smith and Arnold Jacobs. In the summer following his graduation, Jennings was selected to join the trombone section of the Meadowbrook Music Festival Orchestra by its young conductor, James Levine.

Jennings then secured a post as a trombonist with the United States Air Force Concert Band, performing frequently in Washington D.C. as well as on concert tours throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. During that time he also played with the Air Force Symphony Orchestra in its annual series of concerts at the State Department and was chosen to represent the Air Force Band as a member of the Intra-Service Military Band in a special concert at the Kennedy Center.

With the completion of his enlistment, Jennings moved to New York City and resumed his formal musical studies at the Juilliard School where, as a student of Per Brevig, he earned his Master of Music degree in trombone performance. While in New York, Jennings was involved in a variety of playing activities ranging from avant-garde concerts at Carnegie Hall to big band jazz at the Village Gate. It was during this time that Jennings was introduced to the concepts of the legendary brass teacher, Carmine Caruso, with whom he studied regularly for the next two years.

In the mid-1970's, Jennings moved to Chattanooga and took a position as principal trombonist with the symphony and opera orchestras there and soon after joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as the professor of trombone. Jennings relocated to Tucson, Arizona in 1982 and earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Arizona studying trombone performance with Thomas Ervin. There he performed with the Tucson Symphony, the Arizona Opera, the Arizona Ballet, and the Southern Arizona Light Opera Company.

In 1985, Jennings was appointed to the faculty of the University of Florida as the professor of trombone. He has played often with the Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, is on regular call with the Jacksonville Symphony, and, in recent years, has performed at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, at the International Trombone Festival in Feldkirch, Austria, and the University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong. Jennings also teaches Music History specializing in European music of the 17th and 18th centuries.