Stephen Fissel, bass trombone

Since 1981 Stephen Fissel has been a trombonist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra having played at various times, principal, second, and since 1992, bass trombone. During that time, the orchestra's wide and varied programming of symphony concerts, recordings, operas, and popular music has been a beacon of American orchestral activity and a realized dream for this trombonist from a small town in northern Indiana. Mr. Fissel has been in the midst of that activity recording and playing Wagner's Ring and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker along with the standard orchestral repertoire of Dvorak, Brahms, Bruckner and many of the great American composers of the 20th century. In recent years the Seattle Symphony has won recognition for its innovative recording projects by capturing Grammy awards and in 2018 was named Grammophone magazine's first "Orchestra of the Year".

Away from the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera Mr Fissel has performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Northwest Sinfonia, the Oregon Symphony, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Colorado Music Festival.

Mr. Fissel has appeared as a soloist with Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Tacoma Concert Band, as well as the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival and the Seattle Chamber Music Society. In addition to the dozens of Seattle Symphony Orchestra recordings, Stephen can also be heard on numerous film scores, video game soundtracks, tv commercials, and amusement park themes.

As a trombone teacher, Stephen has served locally on the faculties of the University of Puget Sound, Seattle Pacific University, and the University of Washington. During the fall of 2010 he was a lecturer in trombone performance at the prestigious Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.

Mr. Fissel studied with two legendary trombone teachers, Frank Crisafulli of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Keith Brown at the Indiana University School of Music where he earned his undergraduate degree in music education and was awarded a Performer's Certificate.

Photography by Brandon Patoc