Alex Iles

International Recording Artist & Music Educator

Trombonist Alex Ilesenjoys a varied and successful career in diverse musical settings as an active member of the musically rich Southern California freelance performing and recording community. Alex began his musical career while he was attending UCLA as a member of the Disneyland All American College Band. His trombone studies were with Roy Main, Ralph Sauer, Byron Peebles and Per Brevig.

Since graduating, he has gone on to establish himself as a “first call” trombonist/low brass performer , recording artist and educator.

Among the varied palette of artists with whom Alex has performed and/or recorded are: Joe Cocker, James Horner, Meghan Trainor, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alan Jackson, Zubin Mehta, Kid Cudi, The Tonight Show, Seal, Sir Neville Mariner,Hans Zimmer, Gustavo Dudamel, Quincy Jones, Johnny Mathis, Lalo Shiffrin, Natalie Cole, Jeffery Kahane, Danny Elfman, Ray Charles, Trevor Rabin, Pat Metheny, Harry Connick Jr., Robbie Williams, Henry Mancini, Josh Grobin, John Zorn, Terence Blanchard, Barbra Streisand, John Williams, Fallout Boy, Thomas Ades, Neil Young, Johnny Mandel, Paul McCartney, and Prince.

Alex has also toured as lead/solo jazz trombonist with the Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson big bands and currently plays lead trombone for Seth McFarlane.

He has performed and recorded as a regular member of many of the top big bands and jazz groups in the Los Angeles area including Bob Florence’s Limited Edition, Tom Kubis Big Band, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, and he was an original member of Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

He has performed on The Oscar Awards, The Emmy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, The People’s Choice Awards and hundreds of television series and motion picture soundtracks including Star Wars: The Force Awakens”,”The Last Jedi”, and “The Rise of Skywalker”, “The Simpsons” “Frozen”, “Coco”, “La La Land”, “Mandalorian”, “American Dad”,“Minions”, ”Pirates of the Caribbean 1-4”, “Up”, “The Incredibles 1 and 2”, “X-Men”, “Secret Life of Pets”, “Mulan” [live action] “Avatar”, “Star Trek” (three recent franchise TV reboots) “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “LOST”,”Transformers”, “Lion King”[live action], “Toy Story”, and “Rogue One”..

Alex has played in the pit orchestras of numerous Los Angeles productions of Broadway shows including: “The Lion King”,”Phantom of the Opera”, “Chicago”, “”Book of Mormon”, “West Side Story”, “The Producers” and “Wicked”. In the summer of 2001, Alex was one of sixteen trombonists from an international field chosen to participate in a 10 day orchestral/solo seminar hosted by New York Philharmonic Principal trombone virtuoso, Joe Alessi.

He has also appeared as a soloist and and master class instructor in North America, Asia and Europe. He has performed as a soloist with the Long Beach Symphony, the Strings Festival in Steamboat Springs, CO., and the American Trombone Workshop in Washington DC. He has commissioned and performed several new works for trombone.

In October, 2002 Alex was appointed principal trombonist of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as alto, tenor and bass trombonist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, The The Pasadena Symphony, San Francisco Symphony and The LA Chamber Orchestra. In 2014, Alex was selected to be second trombonist with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra.

Alex has been a faculty trombone and jazz instructor at the California Institute of the Arts, Azusa Pacific College and Idyllwild Jazz Music Academy.

He has been invited to appear internationally as a recitalist, guest soloist, and clinician with numerous schools and organizations, including Indiana University, Oklahoma State University, The University of Southern California, Texas Christian University, SliderAsia, and the American Trombone Festival in Washington, DC and he has appeared as a soloist and faculty member three times at the International Trombone Festival.

Alex exclusively plays Schilke/Greenhoe Trombones.

QUOTES: “The Trombone Concerto by Ferdinand David made for an effective vehicle for the orchestra’s distinguished principal, Alex Iles. Throughout the brief work, his playing displayed a beautiful, warm tone and an astonishing upper range, along with a sensitive musicality. At the conclusion, he and the orchestra favored us with an encore, a lovely, soulful rendition of ‘Danny Boy.’”—Long Beach Gazette “Iles’s performance was magical….his added character seeming to enhance the all the way through. His encore of a stirring rendition of “Danny Boy” had everyone leaving for intermission with a smile. In short, Iles’s performance was charming, even endearing.”—Long Beach Signal Tribune