About
This collaboration was born from a passion to bring high-quality professional trombones built 100% in the USA, with all components made in-house at O'Malley Brass in Chicago, Illinois, to maintain the utmost standards of production and design. Working together with Jay Friedman, one of the most influential and regarded principal orchestral trombonists (and longest-serving principal brass player in any orchestra in the world!), along with input from Noah Gladstone (a Los Angeles professional trombonist and owner of The Brass Ark) and the master craftsman Miles O'Malley, we are proud to bring a new line of custom trombones as an offering to musicians around the world searching for that special instrument that connects with them. By fusing meticulous craft with our obsession with brasswinds, we've created this line of instruments to capture a timeless sound that will stand up to the rigors of the most demanding professional situations. Read on to learn more about the team behind these new custom trombones.
Behind the scenes in the O'Malley Workshop
Miles O’Malley
Lead Designer and Builder
Miles O’Malley started to learn repair and manufacture of brass instruments when he was a teen using limited resources. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to assemble a diverse collection of tooling and learned the necessary skills to tackle any task. If you can pull him away from his machines long enough, Miles also loves a good round of billiards. His shop is located in Chicago, Illinois and prides themselves on making all parts in-house.
Noah Gladstone / The Brass Ark
Exclusive Dealer/ Design Consultant
Noah Gladstone holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in trombone performance from the University of Southern California. He studied under Byron Peebles and Ralph Sauer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Jay Friedman of the Chicago Symphony and Terry Cravens, bass trombonist of the Los Angeles Opera and is an active professional trombonist in the Los Angeles area. He specializes in historic brass wind performance and can often be seen playing a sackbut or serpent somewhere around the world. In 2010 he founded The Brass Ark, a brass professional shop dedicated to the appreciation, collection, restoration and sales of vintage and used brasswind instruments. Recently he has expanded by consulting and creating exclusive models of instruments and mouthpieces available at The Brass Ark. The Brass Ark is Located in Los Angeles, California, hours are by appointment only.
Jay Friedman
Design Consultant
Jay Friedman attended Yale University on scholarship and majored in composition at Roosevelt University. After four years with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and two years with the Florida Symphony, he joined the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1962 and was appointed principal trombone in 1964.
Adam Bender
Instrument Craftsman and Master Engraver
Adam has been an integral part of O’Malley Brass operations since 2018. He provides his artistic skills in the hand engravings on O’Malley instruments and is responsible for much of the magic involved in crafting an O’Malley bell. Outside of work, Adam maintains an extensive set of Lego creations and is the owner of a precious cat named Deku.
Dave Paul
Instrument Builder and Designer
Dave joined the O’Malley Brass team in early 2023. After many years of repair and manufacturing work, including designing and prototyping instruments for esteemed trombonists such as David Rejano and Marshall Gilkes, he and Miles came together with Jay Friedman to develop the O’Malley line of trombones. Beyond the shop, Dave is an avid backpacker and lover of Northeastern US mountains.