When a 2 year old is taken to a brass band concert, it is unsurprising that his attention is drawn to the longest, slidiest, loudest instrument on the stage. Inspired by this, Dale Vail is now a Trombonist and Composer, from Christchurch New Zealand.
Dale's musical life to date has seen him very active in the New Zealand Brass community, in bands, orchestras and as a soloist. His involvement across the spectrum of musical genres has given Dale a drive to use multiple genres or musical techniques to create unique performances of his own.
Dale became a student at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington in 2013, where he was awarded the Director of Music’s Choice Scholarship in his opening year, and graduated with 1st class honours in 2016.
During the four years he spent at the school, Dale became very involved in local ensembles, including the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, Orchestra Wellington, and the Wellington Brass Band. He also began his own New Orleans Jazz group called the Brass Bandits, who became a familiar sight on the streets of Wellington.
As a soloist, Dale has won several awards, including the NZSM Brass Player of the Year for three of his years at the school, became the National Brass Band Trombone Champion of New Zealand on three occasions, and also won the Gisborne International Brass Prize three times.
Dale moved to Melbourne in 2017 to continue his studies at the Australian National Academy of Music, whilst also working towards his Masters of Music research via correspondence through the Griffith University of Queensland. Here, he studied with some of the finest tutors available, including Scott Kinmont, and Michael Mulcahy. Here, Dale won the 2018 award for “Best Program in a Solo Recital”, for his recital consisting of five new featured works for Trombone composed by himself.
Dale is now living in Sydney, holding the position as the 2019-2021 Sydney Symphony Orchestra Trombone Fellow. Despite his first choice of specialisation as an orchestral trombonist, Dale can be found working regularly with New Zealand and Australian brass bands as a performer, conductor and composer, and values the roots of his musical history strongly.