Josh Cirtina
Josh is Principal Bass Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and 1/4 of the multi-award winning Slide Action.
Josh Cirtina is Principal Bass Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Trombonist/Artistic Director of the award-winning Slide Action quartet.
A member of the RPO since June 2019, Josh records regularly for film and TV, and has performed with most UK orchestras including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Philharmonia, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Aurora Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, Opera North, Ulster Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Further afield, Josh has also worked with orchestras across Europe such as the Orquesta Sinfonica De Galicia and was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester from 2017-2019.
As a soloist, in 2014 Josh won both the British Trombone Society ‘Bob Hughes’ and International Trombone Association ‘George Roberts’ Bass Trombone competitions. He was also awarded the ‘Don Lusher’ award for best trombone at the 2014 Brass in Concert championships with the Fairey Band. Following this he was featured as soloist at the 2016 RNCM Wind & Brass Festival in Elgar Howarth’s concerto ’Spooks.’ In 2019 he was awarded the British Trombone Societies ‘Player of the Year’ Award and in 2021 was made an honorary Associate Member of the RNCM. In 2022 Josh performed the world premiere of Robin Haigh’s concerto for 4 trombones and orchestra ‘THE DREAMERS’ alongside Slide Action and the Britten Pears Contemporary Ensemble.
Having begun playing in brass bands, Josh started playing the trombone in the Cheltenham Silver Band at the age of 10 and soon joined the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. From 2013-2016 he was a member of the Fairey Band and during this time he performed with most of the UK’s top brass bands including Cory, Black Dyke and Grimethorpe.
Josh studied at the Royal Northern College of Music (2013-16) and the Royal Academy of Music (2016-18) where he was very fortunate to study with teachers such as James Garlic, Adrian Morris, Christian Jones, Bob Hughes, Keith McNicoll and Ian Bousfield.
Josh is also a prolific arranger and is a co-director of the publishing company Resonata Music. His arrangements have been performed around the world and most recently featuring on the debut solo album of James Fountain, Principal Trumpet of the London Symphony Orchestra.
As a teacher, he has given classes across the UK including the Royal Northern College of Music, Trinity Laban and British Trombone Society and also runs an online school - ‘Ultimate Trombone Training,’ with his fellow RPO colleagues. He has also been a member of the Jury for multiple international competitions including the International Trombone Association and British Trombone Society.
When not holding a trombone Josh enjoys walking, being a coffee snob, sampling fine Gins and driving steam trains.