Brian Scarborough is a top call trombonist, improviser, composer, and educator in the greater Kansas City area. He can be seen performing around Kansas City with his own ensembles, and is a member of the People’s Liberation Big Band of Greater Kansas City, the Boulevard Big Band, Zen Brass, The Kansas-Nebraska Act, and is a sub for the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra. Brian has also appeared with the Fountain City Brass Band. Additionally, Brian can be seen working with musical theatre companies throughout the metropolitan area, having performed for more than 50 different productions with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Starlight Theatre, New Theatre Restaurant, Owen/Cox Dance Group, Spinning Tree Theatre, Musical Theatre Heritage, The Chestnut Theatre, and Music Theater Kansas City, among others. He can also be seen performing for touring Broadway productions and with touring acts, such as The Temptations, when they stop in the area. Brian has also performed in jazz, classical, and chamber settings in Germany, Sweden, and England.

As a soloist, Brian has been recognized at regional, national, and international festivals and competitions. Brian performed at the 2015 American Trombone Workshop hosted by the U.S. Army Band at Ft. Myer, VA and won the National Solo Jazz Competition. Additionally, Brian was named a finalist for the 2017 J.J. Johnson Jazz Trombone Competition and the 2010 Gilberto Gagliardi Tenor Trombone Competition through the International Trombone Association. In 2014, Brian was named a Luminarts Fellow in Jazz Improvisation through the Luminarts Cultural Foundation at The Union League Club of Chicago. During his studies, Brian was awarded two Outstanding Performance Awards in Downbeat Magazine’s Student Music Awards.

Brian serves as the Adjunct Instructor of Trombone and Low Brass at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Additionally, Brian maintains a small low brass studio at Doctor Note, located in Overland Park. He is on the faculty for the annual Jazz Workshop at the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Jazz Camp at Kansas City Kansas Community College, and serves as a mentor for the annual Kansas City Trombone Workshop each summer. Brian has presented workshops and masterclasses at the University of Kansas and Johnson County Community College, has worked with public schools throughout the metropolitan area, and recently helped lead a masterclass series at several schools throughout Northern Germany. Brian previously served as an Adjunct Professor of Instrumental Music at Ottawa University, where he taught applied low brass and was the interim band director. He also served as an Artist-in-Residence at Washburn University in 2016 and was a Teaching Assistant for the 2015 Jazz Trombone Institute at the Brevard Music Center.

Brian earned a Master’s of Music in Jazz Studies from DePaul University in 2015 and a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from the University of Kansas in 2013. He is also a proud alumni of the Disney All-American College Band, serving as lead trombonist for the band in 2014.

Brian has studied jazz with Tim Coffman, Bob Lark, Tom Matta, Dana Hall, Matt Otto, Danny Embrey, and Dan Gailey, and has studied trombone with Dr. Michael Davidson and Dave Cooper. He has received additional coaching from Bill Reichenbach, Michael Dease, Andy Martin, Alex Iles, John Fedchock, Elliot Mason, Ingrid Jensen, Luis Bonilla, and Peter Epstein.

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