Meridian Music: Composers in Performance presents a concert of new music for trombone by Andy Strain.

Andy Strain has played the trombone for 17 years. He came to the Bay Area in 2006 to study modern improvisation at Mills College with Fred Frith and consequently had the opportunity to relearn and rethink his relationship to the instrument. After successful stints in German orchestras, didactic concert series in Mexican public schools, and various festivals throughout Europe and North America, his path has led him to another beginning. Through collaborative work with Mills faculty, fellow grad students, and local Bay Area musicians, Andy is going places with the trombone where travel could not take him. His venture into modern music, specifically free improvisation, has brought him into a world of live processing, performance art, and more importantly, a new understanding of his relationship to sound.

Last spring, Andy began putting together a concert series consisting of new music for trombone. His performance at Meridian will be the second of that series. Many of the works have been written for him by his colleagues at Mills College. This concert is a look into the new musical places Andy has found since his move to the Bay Area last year.

Andy Strain received his BA from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln where he studied with Dr. Scott Anderson. He then went on to Germany to study with Abbie Conant and received his Kunstlerisches Ausbildung Certificate. He performed with the OSUANL Orchestra in Monterrey, Mexico for a year, and upon his return to Germany played in various orchestras and chamber ensembles.