Timothy Higgins

Timothy Higgins was appointed to the position of Principal Trombone of the San Francisco Symphony by Michael Tilson Thomas in 2008. He was previously the acting Second Trombonist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC.  Mr. Higgins, a Houston native, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from Northwestern University and has performed with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Music of the Baroque, Aspen Music Festival, Grand Teton Music Festival, Sun Valley Music Festival and Washington National Opera.  His principal teachers have been Michael Mulcahy (Chicago Symphony), Michael Warny (Houston Grand Opera), and Royce Landon (Des Moines, Iowa).

In tandem with a busy orchestra career, Timothy Higgins is a sought-after composer and arranger. He was the sole arranger of the National Brass Ensemble’s recording of the music of Gabrieli. In November 2021, he composed and premiered as soloist in his Concerto for Trombone with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony. Additional arrangements and compositions have been programmed by the San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Steamboat Springs Strings Festival, and numerous university brass ensembles. Mr. Higgins’s compositions have been commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, American Brass Quintet, international tuba soloist Sergio Carolino, and Music City Brass Ensemble. He was the composer-in-residence at Music Academy of the West in 2018, debuting a piece for chamber ensemble and voice featuring soprano Deborah Voigt. His arrangements and original compositions are available through his publishing company, 415Music, established in 2014.

As a teacher, Mr. Higgins is currently on the faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has been a faculty member the Pokorny Seminar at Northwestern University since 2012, the Aspen Music Festival since 2018 and the Pacific Music Festival. He has led masterclasses in Australia, China, Canada, Japan, and the United States, including classes at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, the New World Symphony, Vanderbilt University, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School of Music.

In 2005, he won the Robert Marsteller Solo Trombone Competition, as well as the ITA Trombone Quartet Competition with CT3.  While attending the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Higgins was awarded the Grace B. Upton Award for Outstanding Fellow.

In 2013, he released his solo CD, Stage Left. Recent albums include two self-produced recordings from 2020 in his Underground series.

Timothy Higgins is a Bach Artist and an Ultimate Brass Artist.