Opera North bass and contrabass trombonist Christian Jones began playing (on a whim!), at the age of ten, progressing through the excellent Staffordshire, Midland and National Youth Orchestras, where he became firm friends with tuba player and budding composer Benjamin Ellin in 1996.
Christian was appointed to the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2001, aged twenty, and graduated from London’s Royal Academy of Music with first class honours the following year. A month later, he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra and spent a decade recording soundtracks and performing around 150 concerts annually, from Sydney Opera House to the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.
Since relocating to Yorkshire in 2012 with wife and Hallé Principal trombonist Katy Jones and their young family, Christian has appeared regularly in Huddersfield Town Hall as part of Opera North’s Kirklees Concert Season. In 2021, the orchestra premiered Benjamin Ellin’s Gresley, with Christian as soloist: the first ever bass trombone concerto commissioned by a British orchestra for one of its members.
Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music since 2015, Christian also coaches regularly with the Brass Academy and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. He served as President of the British Trombone Society 2013-15, appearing as the mystery guest on Chris Evans’s BBC Radio 2 breakfast show before 9.8 million listeners!
Current projects include a CD recording of Gresley with the Orchestra of Opera North in November, as part of an album under Benjamin’s direction. Also featured will be principal trombonist Blair Sinclair and New York Philharmonic legend Joseph Alessi, flying over especially. Donations to this album fund are welcome at crowdfunder.co.uk/p/trombone-world-premiere-recordings.