Per Brevig

MCNY President, Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Jury Chairman, 
Conductor, Trombone, Juilliard/MSM/NYU Faculty

“A man of taste and spirit.” – The New York Times

Per Brevig has been the president of the Musicians Club of New York since June 2018. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2010 and on every Jury of the Club's Serge & Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards since 2009. He was the principal trombonist of the Metropolitan Opera for 26 years, leaving the Met in 1994 to embark on an international conducting career. During his time at the Metropolitan Opera and continuing to the present, he has been a faculty member of The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and the Aspen Music Festival and School, where a scholarship in his honor has been established. He has taught literally hundreds of students, many of whom hold top performance positions around the world. In 2016, the International Trombone Association honored him with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Norwegian born, Mr. Brevig began playing trombone professionally at age 16 in his native country. His first position in a symphony orchestra was with the Bergen (Norway) Philharmonic. After his tenure in Bergen, he moved to New York City, where he was appointed principal trombonist with the American Symphony Orchestra under the legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski,, as well as a featured soloist with the orchestra, and became a first call freelancer. During these early years in New York, he completed his formal education at The Juilliard School, where he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, the only trombonist to have received a DMA from Juilliard. 

He was one of the first trombonists to give full length recitals in New York. As a soloist, he has concertized worldwide. Highlights are performances at The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. He has given master classes in the US, Japan, Europe, Korea, and Brazil.

Per Brevig has studied the medical problems faced by musicians and he serves on the Advisory Boards of Medical Problems of Performing Artists and Musikphysiologie und Musik Medizine, a publication from Stuttgard, Germany.

As a conductor, he has guest conducted internationally and was for many years music director of the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. A champion of Scandinavian music, he is founder and president of the Edvard Grieg Society, Inc., New York. Per Brevig is a board member of the Musicians Club of New York.

In 1990, King Olav V of Norway awarded him the Royal Medal of St. Olav in recognition of his efforts on behalf of Norwegian music and culture in the United States.

Per Brevig and family with Olga Koussevitzky and friends.