Deborah Weisz is an American jazz musician. She plays lead trombone for the Deborah Weisz Quintet/Trio.

Early life

Deborah Weisz was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to Victor and Alice Mae. She grew up in Phoenix, where she began to play

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

at the age of ten.Stewart, Alex. ''Making the Scene: Contemporary New York City Big Band Jazz''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.

Career

Weisz studied music at

Mesa Community College Mesa Community College (MCC) is a Public college, public community college in Mesa, Arizona. It is the largest of the 10 community colleges in the Maricopa County Community College District, the largest community college district in the Unite ...

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

and at the

University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the ...

. After graduation, she became a freelance musician in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. While in Las Vegas, Weisz studied and worked with jazz trombonist

Carl Fontana Carl Charles Fontana (July 18, 1928 – October 9, 2003) was an American jazz trombonist. After working in the big bands of Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, and Stan Kenton, he devoted most of his career to playing music in Las Vegas. Career Font ...

. From 1987-1994, she performed for

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

. In 2002, Weisz earned a Master of Arts in Music Composition from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She has taught at

Western Connecticut State University Western Connecticut State University (WCSU and WestConn) is a public university in Danbury, Connecticut. It was founded in 1903 as a teacher's college and is part of the Connecticut State University System. WCSU consists of four schools: the A ...

and in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. As a composer and arranger, she has worked with the Afrikan Amerikan Jazz Orchestra, NYU Concert Jazz Orchestra, and Lou Caputo.

Discography

* ''Breaking Up, Breaking Out'' (Va Wah) 1997 * ''Grace'', (Va Wah), 2005

Awards

* Julius Hemphill Jazz Composition Contest (2000) * BMI Foundation/Charlie Parker Composition Award Finalist (2001) * New England Foundation for the Arts Meet the Composer Commission (2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weisz, Deborah Living people American jazz trombonists Women trombonists Musicians from Phoenix, Arizona Western Connecticut State University people Musicians from Las Vegas Jazz musicians from New York City 1962 births 21st-century American trombonists