BMUS, University of Illinois; MM, Youngstown State University (OH) and the Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)
Now in his fourth decade at the University of Illinois, Elliot Chasanov was appointed Professor of Trombone with permanent tenure in 1991. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Professor Chasanov was principal trombonist and trombone soloist of the United States Air Force Band and Orchestra in Washington, D.C. (1981-1985) and professor of trombone and euphonium at Kent State University (1985-1991). Chasanov began his musical studies at an early age as a cellist, starting the trombone shortly thereafter. His trombone teachers include Frank Crisafulli, Robert Gray, Vern Kagarice, Edward Kleinhammer, Alan Kofsky, Renold Schilke, Richard Schmitt, and Milt Stevens. His cello teachers include Eloise Cartwright, Karl Fruh, Frank Miller, David Pankratz, and Robert Swensen.
Professor Chasanov has presented recitals in many of the world's most prestigious venues including The Royal Academy of Music in London, Warsaw's Frederic Chopin College of Music, the Haydn Room of the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt Austria, Florianka in Krakow among many others. In 1985, at the invitation of the composer, he performed the world premiere of Frigyes Hidas’ Baroque Concerto for alto trombone and strings at the International Trombone Workshop. In review of his performance, The International Trombone Journal wrote: ”his sound might have been described as embroidered velvet-a dark tapestry, richly enhanced by brilliant reflecting surfaces…..The natural flow of the phrase directly confronted the perpetual dilemma of coupling a singing style with reacting control of movement." In 1989, at the invitation of Frank Tichelli, he premiered his Concerto for Trombone, duo pianos and percussion in San Antonio, TX. Mike Greenberg of The San Antonio Express-News wrote “in performance of this intense, virtuosic work… Trombonist Elliot Chasanov was a splendid soloist both technically and interpretively.”
Chasanov was featured guest artist at the 2000 and 2009 Warsaw Trombone Festivals and Judge of the 2nd and 5th All-Poland Trombone Competition. In Spring of 2014 he presented invited masterclasses at the Paris Conservatory, Conservatories of Ghent, Leuven and Brussels in Belgium and Fribourg, Switzerland. He also appeared as guest soloist and conductor with The Belgian Trombone Choir. He has presented master classes throughout the United States, Canada, England, and throughout Europe. Professor Chasanov hosted the 1997 International Trombone Festival at the University of Illinois and has served on its faculty four other times. He has served as trombone faculty at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in TN, The International Music Festival at Duzniki Dzroj in Poland, and for the past 28 years at Illinois Summer Music. In late 2002, Professor Chasanov was a faculty artist at the Polish Brass Symposium and guest artist at the Warsaw Academy of Music. In 2006 and 2007 he taught at the Burgos Chamber Music Festival in Spain and in summer 2010 he was featured trombonist at the First Metropolis Brass Symposium in Bournem Belgium.
In the United States, Professor Chasanov has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Ballet, Cleveland Opera, Illinois Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, Illinois Brass Quintet, and Metropolitan Brass Quintet. In addition to presenting solo recitals world-wide, he currently performs as principal trombone with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony and the Consortium Brass Quintet.
Chasanov's teaching, care, and nurturing of studens has been lauded by students and faculty colleagues alike, most recently receiving the highest possible rating in the Spring 2019 ICES Student Evaluation of Instruction (p.38). His former students hold/have held principal positions in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago-Chile, Reno Philharmonic and numerous other orchestras in the US and abroad. They are members of the United States Army Band in Washington DC as well as military field bands throughout the armed forces. They freelance in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Vancouver, Washington, DC and other cities throughout the US and abroad. They teach at universities in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, Canada, and in the UK. They are music educators in K-12 programs throughout the United States, Canada and Israel. Under his direction, the UI Trombone Choir was the 1993 winner of the ITA's Emory Remington International Trombone Choir Competition and has twice performed at the MidWest International Band and Orchestra Clinic (1994 & 2017), IMEA, the Montreal Music Festival, Festival Launediere, and on numerous US tours.
His many arrangements for trombone choir, brass choir, brass quintet, solo brass, and wind band are published by Cherry Classics and SMP Press in North America and Metropolis Music in Belgium as part of The Elliot Chasanov Brass Series. His arrangements have been performed all over the world by The American Brass Quintet, The Illinois Brass Quintet, The Pineywoods Brass Quintet, The Tallinn Festival Brass Ensemble, O'Brass (Belgium), and at festivals in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, Estonia, and Poland.
Chasanov has been involved in instrument and mouthpiece design with brass makers including Bach, Conn, Greenhoe, Hammond, Kuehnl and Hoyer, Schilke, and Yamaha. He designed two alto trombone mouthpieces for Schilke Music Products in Chicago which were introduced at Musikmesse Frankfurt in March 2014. In August of 2017 he was appointed as an Artist-Clinician by Michael Rath Trombones, United Kingdom.
On December 22, 2017, he presented a featured clinic at The Midwest Clinic in Chicago. On January 30, 2020 he was featured soloist with the John Hersey High School Band (Arlington Hts) at the 2020 Illinois Music Educators Convention in Peoria, IL.
The International Trombone Association awarded Professor Chasanov the 1997 President's Award as well as Honorary Life Membership.
For more information about trombone study at Illinois please visit Trombone at Illinois