Welcome to Jonathan Hollick, our new trombone player

This month we welcome a new member to the Orchestra, Jonathan Hollick, who joins the Trombone section. He opened up about his early musical memories, his inspirations, and what he’s most looking forward to in the year ahead with the LSO.

Jonathan grew up in Plymouth, Devon where he started playing the trombone at the age of 13. He played in his father’s youth brass band for the majority of his childhood, as well as playing for bands down in Cornwall. In 2011 Jonathan began his studies at the Royal College of Music, where he spent six years learning from Byron Fulcher, Lindsay Shilling and Amos Miller.

Towards the end of his studies, Jonathan started freelancing with most of the orchestras around the UK. Within six months of graduating, he was offered the Principal Second Trombone chair in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and spent five years playing concerts around Europe and Japan, as well as being a regular performer at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms. Jonathan is also keen educator; in 2022, he became a Professor of Trombone at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

When did you first start playing the trombone, and why?

I started playing the trombone when I was 13. However, prior to that, I played the tenor horn in my father’s youth band down in Plymouth, which he ran for over 50 years. The way I came to the trombone isn’t a romantic story. There weren’t any trombone players in the band and, because my father was the boss, he told me that was what I was playing going forwards! I wasn’t that keen at the time, as I had hobbies outside of music which I preferred far more, like football. But as soon as I started on the trombone, and found out that, in bands, you can play as loud as possible, I started to really love it and picked things up quite quickly. I think what made me want to pursue it as a career was going to hear great brass bands around the country, and listening to what top music-making can sound like. It inspired me to take things further and study at music college.

Do you have any trombone heroes?

My trombone heroes would probably be my teachers at the Royal College of Music. Lindsay Shilling, Principal Trombone at the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and Byron Fulcher, Principal Trombone of the Philharmonia. Byron was my first trombone teacher and I still have huge respect for them both. I feel they took a massive gamble by letting me into the RCM as I was very inexperienced and pretty overwhelmed by the thought of being able to have a successful career as a professional musician. They were very patient with me and shaped me into the player I am today. Otherwise I just love to listen to loads of different musicians and ensembles.

What are you most looking forward to in the rest of the LSO’s season?

I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into absolutely everything that’s coming up! I always enjoy the concerts with Sir Simon Rattle and I’m really looking forward to the Orchestra building a great relationship with Sir Antonio Pappano as he becomes Chief Conductor Designate this season. One of the concerts that catches my eye is Gustav Mahler’s Third Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas. Plus touring is something I’ve always loved. Travelling the world with the Orchestra will be an amazing experience!

If you could go back, what advice would you give your younger self as an aspiring musician?

To never take your musical life or audiences for granted, and really love what you’re doing. It’s easy to forget how lucky we are to be able to play a musical instrument, especially in times where the industry has been on its knees. It’s a massive blessing to be able to play music in any capacity, so enjoy it.

Are there any other interesting things about you we should know? 

Football has been a life-long passion. Playing for my county growing up was so much fun, and it’s something I miss when I don’t have the chance to play in my downtime away from music. I’m a big Manchester United fan, and unfortunately I sit next to a big Manchester City fan. You can’t have everything I suppose! Music-wise, I used to play the drum kit all the time in jazz bands, rock bands and even a bit in brass bands. My older brother is a drummer by trade, so that’s where I found my love for that.

If you had to pick, what is your favourite piece of orchestral music? 

I would say I have composers that I like rather than specific pieces. I love playing Dmitri Shostakovich’s symphonies, as they’re written with incredible emotion and you can hear all that passion in almost every symphony. At the other end of the spectrum, I would consider Johannes Brahms’ symphonies to be as close to perfection as a symphony could be.

And what is your favourite piece of non-classical music?

I don’t have specific tracks I would call my favourites, although I still listen to lots of music. As I was a drummer when I was young, my love of rock music means I still listen to a lot of that. I don’t think I could ever specify certain pieces or genres of music. And as Member of the LSO, one of the great things is going to be that I’ll get to play a bit of everything!