Ron Kischuk

Artist Bio:

 
Ron Kischuk is entering his sixth season as Artistic Director of the Toledo Jazz Festival. In this capacity he has developed all the current theatre performance programming for the organization. Ron is also the Director of the festival’s educational programs and community outreach. He is the leader of The Masters of Music Big Band, The Tartarsauce Traditional Jazz Band, and is the owner of Brassworks Entertainment in Detroit and The Masters Of Music Conservatory in Royal Oak. Ron was the artistic director of the Toledo Jazz Orchestra for 10 years, the longest tenure ever for that organization Ron is on the adjunct faculty of Wayne State University teaching classical and jazz trombone, marketing and artist management, and the history of rock and roll. Ron is a Yamaha clinician and performing artist and is the one of the country’s most prominent trombonists. He has been a featured soloist with The Detroit Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions and has performed extensively with the orchestra as principal or assistant principal trombonist. Ron is presently the principal trombonist of the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. He is lead trombonist for the Fox Theater in Detroit and Andiamo's Celebrity Showroom in Warren. His Masters of Music Big Band has backed up Johnny Mathis, Hal Linden, The Temptations, Natalie Cole, Gladys Knight, Rosemary Clooney, Wayne Newton, The Rat Pack and Regis Philbin among others. He was recently hired to contract an orchestra for a date with Johnny Mathis in Findlay, Ohio. Ron has 17 CD releases as leader, most recently with N.E.A. Jazz Master Curtis Fuller, a new traditional jazz release “Basin Street Blues”, and the Masters of Music Big Band (minus 9) CD titled “Splanky”. He has recorded with Aretha Franklin, Peter Erskine, Vickie Winans, Neal McCoy, Ben Harper, Tim Bowman, Joan Osborne, Four Tops, Michelle Ndegeocello, Temptations, Grand Funk Railroad, Les Brown Band, Emerald Sinfonietta, Russ Miller, Jimmy Scott, Bobby Murray, Karen Newman, Alto Reed, Randy Scott, Birmingham Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra, and lead trombone on the Grammy winning soundtrack Standing in The Shadows of Motown. In 2021 he will release a second two trombone CD, a sestet CD and a new “with friends” CD. Other CDs recorded and in production include a tribute to the legendary sextets of the 1960s, and 4 new Masters of Music CDs with guests. Ron was recently asked by Il Divo to conduct portions of their engagement at the Fox Theatre. In addition to performing live with the aforementioned artists, other past performances include Dianne Reeves,,Marvin Hamlisch, Gladys Knight, Dukes of Dixieland, Don Rickles, Roger Daltry, Mitchell “Booty” Wood, Liberace, Jay McShann’ The Lennon Sisters, Martha Reeves, Rob McConnell, Bob Hope, Neil Sedaka, Joe Williams, Delfeayo Marsalis, Bernadette Peters, Erskine Hawkins Danny Thomas, Gregory Hines, Ed Shaughnessy’ Barry Manilow, Four Lads, Mary Wilson, Diahann Carroll, Ann Jillian, Pete Christlieb, Gary Urwin, AndyWilliams, Josh Groban, Gloria Gaynor’ Steve March Torme, Elvis on the Big Screen, The Spinners, Bob Anderson, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frankie Valli, The Sultans, Lou Rawls, Sammy Davis Jr., Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah McLachlan, Cab Calloway, Donny McCaslin, Marlena Shaw, Henry Mancini, Mel Torme, Pat Metheny, Doc Severinsen, Christian McBride, Max Roach, Mitch Miller, Barry Harris, Teddy Edwards, Kurt Elling, Bob Mintzer, Sean Jones, Tom Scott, Nancy Wilson, Zoot Sims, Curtis Fuller, Donald Byrd, Don Henley, Vince Mendoza, Dianne Schuur, Jim Hughart, Tony Bennett, Terence Blanchard, The Moody Blues, The Ink Spots, Bob Summers, Il Volo, Contours, Mitzi Gaynor, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard, Mel Lewis, Milt Jackson, Regina Carter, The Four Freshmen, David Berger, Carl Fontana, Lew Tabackin, Clay Aiken, Wallace Roney, Brian Wilson, Al Hibbler, Jon Faddis, Phil Ranelin, Jack Jones, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Branford Marsalis, James Carter, Perry Como, Gerald Wilson, Melissa Manchester, Lanny Morgan, Joan Rivers, Burt Bacharach, Geri Allen, The Four Aces, George Bohannon, Jackie Evancho, Chuck Findley, Johnny Mathis, Celtic Women, Bobby Vinton, Marilyn McCoo, Norris Turney, Sue Raney, Jordan Smith, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith and many, many more. Ron’s private students have excelled in every genre of music, performing and recording with Bob Seger, Wynton Marsalis, Yo Yo Ma, Joe Henderson, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, Clark Terry, the Michigan Opera Theatre, and many others. Colleges they have attended include the New England Conservatory, U.S.C. Thornton School of Music, University of Michigan, Jackson State, Indiana University, Michigan State and Wayne State Universities to name a few. Ron's students have released a number of recordings as leaders of their own groups, and several have gone on to teach at colleges including Wayne State University, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Morehouse College, Oakland University, Claflin University, and the University of Toledo. Many professional brass players solicit Ron’s instruction for both personal growth and error correction in their playing.