Jeremy Berkman has held the position of Principal Trombonist for the Vancouver (Canada) Opera Orchestra since 1993. He is also currently the Artistic Co-Director of the Turning Point Ensemble of Vancouver. He is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Oberlin College, where he received degrees in both music and economics. In addition, Mr. Berkman earned a Masters Degree at the Juilliard School, and moved permanently to Canada after a post-graduate residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts. His teachers have included Tim Atherton, Thomas Cramer and Per Brevig.

In addition to his tours with the Touch of Brass, Mr. Berkman has toured with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra, The Continuum Ensemble (New York), the Cosmos Brass ensemble, the CBC Radio Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He was the Principal trombonist for the Juilliard Orchestra’s inaugural tour of mainland China. Jeremy has recorded with the Turning Point Ensemble, The Hard Rubber Orchestra, the Jill Townsend Big Band, The Rankin Sisters, and with numerous film and television session orchestras. His work in creative and improvisational music as a member of cellist Peggy Lee’s sextet (the Peggy Lee Band) has been recorded on three critically acclaimed cds for Spool label, and he has performed with this ensemble in festivals in British Columbia, Quebec, Ontario, and Portugal..

A strong advocate for today’s composers, Mr. Berkman has commissioned chamber music featuring the trombone from noted British Columbia composers such as Owen Underhill, Fred Stride, David MacIntyre, and John Oliver. He has presented these and other contemporary chamber works with outstanding ensembles such as Continuum (New York), the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Vetta String Quartet, and the Standing Wave new music ensemble. Through these and other ensembles, Mr. Berkman has collaborated with internationally acclaimed late twentieth and twenty-first century composers John Cage, John Adams, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jacob Druckman, and Vinko Globokar,

Jeremy Berkman is thrilled to pass on his enthusiasm for music-making to young children during the 40 - 50 youth concerts and recitals that he contributes to annually as a member of The Touch of Brass Quintet, and to advanced music students as an instructor at the Vancouver Academy of Music, Capilano College, the University of British Columbia, and during this past year at the University of Victoria..