Dr. Isrea Butler

Grammy Award-winning Trombonist and Educator Isrea Butler has obtained multiple degrees in trombone performance from the Eastman School of Music (BM and MM) and Rutgers University (DMA). His teachers include John Marcellus, Ralph Sauer, George Roberts, Tom Ervin, Michael Powell, and Weston Sprott; as well as being a founding member of the Gateways Brass Collective, he is the lead trombonist of the Legendary Count Basie Orchestra and with many of NYC’s top jazz ensembles. In addition to orchestras and jazz ensembles, he has played trombone and tuba for eight Broadway productions.

Currently, he is the Director of the UNLV School of Music. Previously, he was Music Department Head at Valdosta State University, Music Department Chair at North Carolina Central University, and Professor of Trombone from 2017 - 2021. He has also served as the Director of Bands and music program coordinator at The University of Maryland Eastern Shore and as Director of Jazz Studies and Low Brass at the University of Mary. Dr. Butler was also the Visiting Assistant Professor of Trombone at Jackson State University, where he taught trombone, conducted the University Brass Ensemble and Jazz Combo, and taught graduate music. He has also taught at the Eastman School of Music, Juilliard’s MAP, and Rutgers University. His students have gone on to perform, teach, and study at graduate schools such as Indiana University, Berklee, UNI, Rutgers, Eastman, University of Memphis, Towson University, and Montclair State.

As a conductor, Dr. Butler has been the conductor of the UMES Wind Ensemble, HBCU Trombone Choir, Associate Conductor of the Brighton Symphony, Eastman Trombone Choir, and Brass Guild. He studied conducting with Dr. Jeff Jordan, Brad Lubman, Dr. William Weinert, Dr. Mark Scatterday, and Kynan Johns. While in NYC, he frequently performed on numerous Broadway shows and other prestigious musical performances. He has toured, recorded, and performed with many of the country’s leading jazz orchestras, including Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Mingus Big Band, Glenn Miller, Birdland Big Band, Chico O'Farrill Afro Cuban Jazz Orchestra, and the Jimmy Heath Orchestra. Equally at home playing classical music, he has performed with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Rochester Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Gateways Music Festival Orchestra, and the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra.

Dr. Butler is a Conn-Selmer clinician and performing artist.