We continue our weekly release of Featured Artists appearing at this year's British Trombone Festival.

This week, introducing Katy Jones.

Katy has been Principal Trombone with the Hallé Orchestra since 2012, having previously been Co-Principal Trombone with the London Symphony Orchestra. Aswell as performing at concert halls worldwide, she can be heard on numerous film and video game soundtracks, including Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, the Marvels, and the Harry Potter film series. She has been a guest at many orchestras in the UK, and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and is also a member of Fine Arts Brass, with whom she has toured widely and made a number of recordings.

Katy is on the faculty of the OAcademy, where she works with students across the world online; in the UK she works regularly as a brass coach for the National Youth Orchestra and is Senior Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. As a soloist she has appeared at many brass festivals, including the Arctic Trombone Festival, Dublin Brass Week, and several International Trombone Festivals. With the Hallé she has given a world première of the concerto ‘The Madonna of Silence’ by John Casken, which was also heard on BBC Radio 3. Plans for summer 2026 include visits to the Cimvo Brass Festival, Spain, and Gravissimo, in Portugal. She is also a member of the Jury for the Aeolus competition 2026.

As a young student, Katy won the Don Lusher Prize in the BBC Big Band Competition, the Brass Prize in the BBC Young Musician of the Year, and was a finalist in the Shell/LSO competition. She was also a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester. Over recent years she has received a number of awards from her peers; ‘The Sheila Tracey Award’, ‘Teacher of the Year’, and ‘Player of the Year’ from the British Trombone Society, and in 2026 she was the recipient of the International Trombone Association Award, which is given for an elite level of creative and artistic input.

Katy gained her Masters Degree in Pharmacy, and has maintained an active interest in health education and injury prevention throughout her career. Continually pursuing her extensive research into breathing, and the impact it has on our anatomy and physiology, she is fully qualified to teach the Buteyko Method and has presented successful lectures and workshops for many students and professionals of all instruments. Her continuing CPD, and regular contact with specialist respiratory physiotherapists means she stays at the forefront of research in this area.

Katy is a regular supporter of the British Trombone Society and winner of the BTS Player of the Year Award 2023, an organisation which inspired her as a very young player coming from the rural Yorkshire Dales, and allowed her to meet and hear influential former recipients of this award, such as Ian Bousfield and Don Lusher.