Doug Farwell Portrait

Doug Farwell

Professor of Trombone

  • Doctor of Musical Arts
    University of Illinois
Doug Farwell is currently Professor of Trombone at Valdosta State University. He also serves as Executive Director of the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra and served as Assistant Dean for the College of the Arts for five years. He holds a DMA from the University of Illinois, MM from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and BM from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has taught on the faculty at VSU, University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Eastern Illinois University, and has held Graduate Teaching Assistantships at the University of Illinois and SUNY Stony Brook.

In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, for over 25 years, he has served as the principal trombonist with the Albany and Valdosta Symphony Orchestras and a substitute with other regional orchestras. Over the past several years he has served as an adjudicator for various International Trombone Festival solo competitions. Additionally, he has served as an adjudicator at the American Trombone Workshop in Washington DC. His students have won International and National Solo competitions for MTNA, ATW and ITF, as well as appearing in the Zellmer finals competition.

For the past seven summers he has performed as a member of the Southeastern Professor’s Trombone Choir and was featured with the Professors Choir at the International Trombone Festival in Columbus. He can be heard on the 2017 CD release of Legacy on Peer2Peer label. He also has been a featured soloist with both the Albany and Valdosta Symphony Orchestras performing the Ewazen Concerto in 2005 and 2006 and Milhaud's Concerto d'hiver with the ASO.

He performs regularly with the Faculty Jazz Combo and Faculty Brass Quintets at VSU and conducts the VSU Trombone Ensemble. In the summers, he has taught as the brass instructor for the Georgia Governor's Honors Program and served as musical director for the Georgia Peach State Summer Theatre and VSU Theatre conducting: Beauty and the Beast, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, A Funny thing happened on the way to the forum and Crazy for You.