Brian Diehl

Principal Trombone

Brian Diehl is a Boston based trombonist who performs and teaches throughout New England. He has served as Principal Trombonist of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Carolyn Kuan, since 2011. Concurrently, since 2007, he has held the position of Principal Trombone of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of former conductor Kevin Rhodes, which included performing at the Berkshire Choral International Festival until 2018. Mr. Diehl has performed Concertos to much acclaim with both orchestras as part of their respective masterworks series: most recently in 2023 with the HSO Brass Quintet: Schwarz-Concerto for Brass Quintet and McCarthy-American Dance Music, Mackey’s Harvest Trombone Concerto with the HSO in 2016, as well as the North American Premiere of Yoshimatsu’s Orion’s Machine Trombone Concerto with the SSO in 2018.

Since September 2016, he serves as Principal Trombone with the newly formed Berkshire Opera Festival Orchestra (Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto, Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Pasquale, Don Giovanni, La Boheme) under Brian Garmin’s direction. He performs with many regional orchestras and ensembles throughout New England, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Symphony New Hampshire, Albany Symphony, Portland Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Landmarks Orchestra, numerous choral orchestras in Boston, and he has appeared with Boston Modern Orchestral Project (with whom he has recorded several albums of new music).

Formerly, Mr. Diehl served as Principal Trombone of the Sarasota Orchestra, and at the same time worked with The Florida Orchestra (Tampa). He was a member of the New World Symphony and New World Brass Quintet, and appeared on recordings with both ensembles.  Past performances have included the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, and with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, where he was also a part of one of their 1989 recordings: Verdi’s Opera Highlights with Sir Georg Solti.

Mr. Diehl is in demand as a teacher and clinician throughout the Boston area and serves on the faculty at New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, University of Southern Maine as Artist Faculty, and St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. He is a Shires Artist.