The Slide Factory Trombone Festival was organized for the first time in 2005. The city of Rotterdam is known as the Slide Factory. During the festival the city is the place where trombonists and enthusiasts from all over the world meet and inspire each other, and where you can hear the sparkling sound of the trombone almost non-stop.

Slide Factory is organised by The New Trombone Collective. This renowned ensemble consists of 10 trombonists who all graduated from the Rotterdam Conservatory. All are currently playing for the major Dutch symphony orchestras like the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Brabant Orchestra. This shows once again that Rotterdam may rightfully call itself a successful Slide Factory.

The first trombone festival in Rotterdam took place in 2005 under the title “Dutch Trombone Festival”. Special guest was Christian Lindberg and the audience was wildly enthusiastic about the programming. A follow-up was bound to come!

The second Slide Factory was in 2007. That year’s title was “International Trombone Festival Europe”. Classical guests soloist was Michel Becquet. With Mark Nightingale, Bart van Lier, Ilja Reijngoud, Wycliffe Gordon and the Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra jazz became more eminent within the festival. The number of concerts had grown, more than 7 world premieres, an extensive number of workshops and a successful outdoor spectacle.

With Slide Factory 2009, European Trombone Festival, we can look forward to a very special festival. A festival where even more (inter)national world class trombonists, ensembles and orchestras will perform – a festival for and by the audience. Enjoy the series of tantalizing concerts with ancient and contemporary works, special musical meetings, and spectacular experiments.