John Kitzman

John Kitzman, adjunct professor of trombone at SMU, served as principal trombonist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1972 until his retirement from that position in 2015. He has recorded extensively with the DSO for RCA, Telarc, Angel, Pro Arte, and Delos, with more than 50 recordings on those labels and a solo CD on Crystal Records. Kitzman has performed with the Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, and World Philharmonic and has toured with the Summit Brass Ensemble. He has soloed with the DSO, the Amarillo Symphony, the West Point Band, the Texas Wind Symphony and in various solo recital and master class appearances across the country. He has been on the faculty of the Round Top Music Festival for many years.

Kitzman received his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of SMU in 1975. His students have won jobs in orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the Dallas Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Buffalo Symphony, Kennedy Center Orchestra, and Fort Worth Symphony, as well as in the country’s foremost service bands, the U.S. Marine Band, the Air Force Band in Washington, D.C., and the United States Military Academy Band. Kitzman studied with Henry C. Smith of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Ed Herman of the New York Philharmonic and Per Brevig of the Metropolitan Opera. While at Tanglewood he won the Spaulding Prize for the Outstanding Instrumentalist of the season in 1968.