Biography:
Andrew Peoples, a native of Ocala, Florida, is a passionate educator, conductor, and trombonist based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He currently serves as the Director of Jazz Ensembles at Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati. Under his direction, the Walnut Hills Jazz Ensemble has been selected to perform at the prestigious Ohio Music Educators Association (OMEA) State Conference and the Essentially Ellington Regional Festival, and it regularly performs with the highly acclaimed Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra.
Enthusiastic about advancing the jazz art form and supporting contemporary composers, Peoples regularly commissions new music for Walnut Hills and collaborates with leading jazz artists, including Edgar Byars, Angie Coyle, Justin Dawson, Marc Fields, Jennifer Grantham, Eric Lechleiter, Jim Leslie, Spencer Merk, Ben Tweedt, and Myles Twitty.
In addition to his work at Walnut Hills High School, Andrew has spent more than twenty years as a freelance trombonist while operating a large private studio in the Mason, Milford, and Wyoming school districts. In this capacity, he has been a member of the Cincinnati Brass Quintet, the Seven Hills Brass Ensemble, and the Anonymous Trombone Quartet. As an orchestral trombonist, Andrew has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Kentucky Symphony, and the Richmond Symphony.
He holds a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, and a Master of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. His principal teachers include Bobby Adams (Stetson University), Susan Bass (Mason Middle School), Avious Jackson (William Mason High School), Lee Rogers (Washington National Opera), David Schmidt (Stetson University), Marie Speziale (Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra), and Rodney Winther (University of Cincinnati).