Arie VandeWaa is the Assistant Professor of Trombone and Music Business at the University of South Alabama. In 2022, Arie was appointed Bass Trombone of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and Principal Trombone of the Mobile Opera Orchestra. A Mobile, Alabama native, he has also performed on both tenor and bass trombone with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra, The Tuscaloosa Symphony Orchestra, The Mobile Big Band Society, The Pensacola Jazz Society, the Excelsior Band, and various Jazz, Commercial, Second Line, and Chamber ensembles throughout the Gulf Coast area. Arie is also the co-founder of the Gulf Coast Low Brass Academy, a multi-day workshop dedicated to helping high school and middle school low brass musicians improve, and has worked as a clinician in schools and colleges across the Gulf Coast and throughout the Southeast.
Arie completed his Bachelor’s degree in Music with elective studies in Business at the University of South Alabama, where he studied with Dr. Greg Gruner, and completed his Master’s Degree and Doctoral Degree at the University of Alabama, where he studied with Dr. Jon Whitaker.
“I play Edwards instruments on both tenor and bass because when I think of the ideal trombone sound, I only ever hear an Edwards sound in my head. Edwards horns are incredibly comfortable and versatile, and I can’t imagine making music without them.”