Jeff Beckett grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina, in an extremely musical family. His mother was a prized clarinetist, and his brother holds his Doctorate in Trumpet Pedagogy from Florida State.
He grew up playing at the Wilmington Academy of music, and eventually giving lessons there. He ran their MIDI lab, and played in their orchestera, as he entered high school. He then began playing with the Wilmington Symphony, and various ensembles at UNC-W.
He studied with Michael Kris (UNC-CH, North Carolina Symphony), and auditioned for numerous schools, winning many scholarship offers, deciding to attend East Carolina University as an A.J. Fletcher recipient. There her studied tenor and bass trombone with George Broussard (a pioneer of the instrument and clinician, with numerous accreditations) and Euphonium with Dr Jeff Jarvis.
While at ECU, Jeff continued to play with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, UNCW Jazz Ensemble, and various small jazz combo’s, quintets, and choirs. He played with the ECU Symphony as a bass trombonist, their wind ensemble as a tenor and bass trombonist, and the trombone choir as a bass trombonist.
He has been a member or the Tar River Symphony, and the Wilmington (NC) Symphony as a bass trombonist, and continues to play with numerous ensembles in the tidewater area of Virginia including the Virginia Wind Symphony and Symphonicity.
He is a married with two sons, and resides in the Virginia Beach, VA area, serving in a faith-based company as their outreach rep for the state of Virginia and eastern North Carolina. He is also a private instructor in low brass; concentrating on tenor and bass trombone.
He can be reached at: 757-256-0509
Or J_a_beckett@yahoo.com