TromboneChat

Videos of Ms. T playing her trombone show up regularly in my Facebook feed. Who is she?

She seems to be quite a talented player. Just another kid who can kick my butt on the horn.

It just goes to show, on any known instrument, there's an 8 year old on youtube playing better than we'll ever be.

Check out her as a 10 year old playing All of Me on a trombone bigger than her that falls apart halfway:

Here's a better answer.

I enjoy listening to this 2023 performance of Joseph Guy Ropartz Piece in E-flat Minor.
First heard of her playing on the ITF 2019 Daft Punk Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger project.

To my ears there is a lovely warm tone and a patient vibrato across her recordings.

She is Ukrainian musician (not only trombone player).
In 2018 she finished Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music, it is "special" school where children study "normal" program (math, biology, history etc.) and "music" disciplines (main instrument, piano, solfeggio, music theory etc.).
Usually, after such education graduates enter the conservatory or Institute of Music.
After graduation she studied in Germany and Switzerland.
AFAIK now she lives in Europe.

Does anyone know what mouthpiece she’s playing?

Could be a Schilke Symphony Series.

StephenK wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 11:32 am https://trombone.net/newsitem/polina-ta ... orchestra/

Amazing!

Born in 2001 in Kherson, Ukraine, Tarasenko began her musical journey at the age of five, initially playing drums before exploring saxophone, trumpet, and trombone in a children’s jazz ensemble.

Pretty sure she's also a featured artist at the ITF this summer too!

Conn Artist Ms T plays an 88HTO with a Schilke 51.

Model34 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:24 am Does anyone know what mouthpiece she’s playing?

Of all of the great things about her playing and her story it's so funny that equipment comes into play. She'd sound great on anything. LOL

WGWTR180 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 22, 2025 5:55 am

Model34 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 10:24 am Does anyone know what mouthpiece she’s playing?

Of all of the great things about her playing and her story it's so funny that equipment comes into play. She'd sound great on anything. LOL

Right? I know that any time I hear a great and talented young vocalist, my first question is what kind of microphone she's using.

[quote=WGWTR180 post_id=273915 time=1745322920 user_id=

Right? I know that any time I hear a great and talented young vocalist, my first question is what kind of microphone she's using.
[/quote]

You’re right, she does sound great playing anything!

And Yes, questions about equipment on a trombone equipment site! Who would have thunk! LOL!



Age 9yr.

Model34 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 12:08 pm
And Yes, questions about equipment on a trombone equipment site! Who would have thunk! LOL!

I think you meant to direct that comment to me.

And yeah, guilty as charged! I'm encouraging this place to become less focused on trombones and more focused on playing the trombone; which, after all, is what that equipment is for. And we already have a whole huge other section devoted exclusively to equipment. It would just be nice if, when we hear a wonderful player, we think about the player and the playing before we jump to their hardware. People work hard their whole lives to get your attention to their playing, and it's their music that excites us.

I'm also encouraging people to look to themselves with playing issues before looking to the equipment, as whenever we miss a note we all tend to go, "Oh, maybe I should change my mouthpiece or my lead pipe," before we go, "Maybe I should lock myself in the practice room and do some hard work."

Of course, I understand there are gear heads. I belong to an audiophile group where I say, "I use my audio equipment to listen to music," and they all say, "We use music to listen to our audio equipment," which pretty much describes the divide here, too.

But I do try to encourage people to think about the music and the playing of it first and foremost. Because, unless you're just into collecting brass instruments, that's pretty much the end game.

Polina Tarasenko is a marvelous talent! I love learning about her journey, and I think that's so much more interesting than what mouthpiece she's playing on at the moment.

To reinforce Dana's commentary about "our" obsession with equipment:
Isn't it interesting that Ms Tarasenko plays a (not-very-fashionable) Conn 88HTO and what looks like an off-the-shelf mouthpiece of some sort (who cares?), and has not been persuaded to change her equipment by her eminent trombone teachers, including Ian Bousfield (hardly a "Conn guy"). She sounds marvelous on this and other recordings, and would surely do so on any modern trombone.

Model34 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 23, 2025 12:08 pm

WGWTR180 wrote: ↑
Right? I know that any time I hear a great and talented young vocalist, my first question is what kind of microphone she's using.

You’re right, she does sound great playing anything!

And Yes, questions about equipment on a trombone equipment site! Who would have thunk! LOL!



Age 9yr.

Well except this is NOT a trombone equipment site exclusively. I think it fascinating that many listen to a recording of someone and the first question is "what mouthpiece or instrument do they use?"
On a similar topic I remember years ago hearing a master class at one of the trombone weekend workshops by Charlie Vernon. It was packed and I remember that Charlie spoke mostly about playing music. Playing music other than what you normally play. Challenge your self, etc, etc, etc.. I found it so interesting. He gave some examples of what he was talking about. Sounded great. At the end he asked for questions. Someone raised their hand and asked if he could play some orchestra excerpt that has been beaten to death by every bass trombonist who studies orchestral playing. After all of that talk all that person wanted to hear was an orchestra excerpt.

What I find interesting about her playing: In my view she is not the absolute standard player. She has not the absolute textbook embouchure and technique, her interpretations are not always the absolute standard and she also plays literature and styles and even instruments that are not just standard classical trombone. She must have put in so much work already as a young kid to get there.

On that equipment thing: The main relevant message one could take from this could be that very mainstream equipment can be totally sufficient if you put in the work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a standard Conn. (BTW I know that the Hannover class has or at least had quite a lot of Conn players, including Jonas Bylund himself and Ian Bousfield's Getzen model is always said to be an "improved" 88h)