He is a trombone and euphonium player and conductor born in Chicago, Illinois who attended a military school and studied on a scholarship at Yale University and at Roosevelt University where he majored in composition.
He became a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and remained with them for four years before joining the Florida Symphony. Two years later, in 1962, he was appointed a position with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and in 1964, when he was 23 years old, was given the position of Principal Trombone, making him the youngest brass musician in a major orchestra to take the first chair. He is also a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass.
Regularly working as a conductor alongside his work as a trombone player, Illinois Council of Orchestra named him Conductor of the Year in 2002. He has conducted the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for Act 1 of Die Walkure by Wagner after being invited by Daniel Barenboim and became the Music Director of the Symphony of Oak Park & River Forest in 1995. He has also been a guest conductor of orchestras that include Berlin Staatskapelle, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the Festival Orchestra of Santa Catarina, Brazil, the Hawaii Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, the Malmo Symphony, the National Symphony of Mexico, the Orchestra of the Italian Radio (RAI), Santa Cecilia Orchestra of Rome and Zurich Opera.
Recordings he has performed on include his own The Singing Trombone along with The Antiphonal Music of Gabrieli with the Chicago Brass Ensemble, Igor Stravinsky/Rimsky-Korsakov: L’Histoire Du Soldat (Suite)/Capriccio Espagnol and The Medinah Sessions by Chicago Pro Musica, Edgard Varese/Frank Martin, Corigliano: Symphony No. 1, Wagner: Overtures and Preludes, Brahms: Violin Concerto/Sonata No. 3, Jean Martinon: The Complete Recordings and the soundtrack of the film Lincoln by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago and Live by Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass, Portrait of an Artist by Arnold Jacobs, Big Boy by Gene Pokorny, Brass and Choral Music by Thomas Wikman and James Levine Conducts Igor Stravinsky: Les Noces/L’histoire Du Soldat (Suite).
In the field of musical education he has written articles published by The Instrumentalist magazine which are used on several university’s curriculum and his solo CD The Singing Trombone is also aimed to assist students. He has been a member of the faculty as Head of Winds and Brass at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts and been artist-in-residence at Indiana University. He has held master classes and performed nationally and internationally.
The Karl Hammond Jay Friedman Signature Trombone Mouthpieces have been produced and he co-developed the THEIN Bass Trombone in Bb/F/Gb “Old Germany Style”.
Christmas Carols recordings by Chicago Symphony Low Brass Ensemble
Angels We Have Heard On High (Traditional/Chadwick/Barnes)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
The First Nowell (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Anonymous/Traditional)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson
Here We Come A-Wassailing (Wassail Song) (Anonymous Middle Ages English)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson
I Saw Three Ships (Traditional/Anonymous)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranger – Luther Henderson
In Dulci Jubilo (J.S. Bach version)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Jingle Bells (James Lord Pierpoint)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Joy to the World (Isaac Watts/Lowell Mason/Georg Frideric Handel)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Lo, How A Rose (Traditional Anonymous German)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fidelis)(John Francis Wade/Fred Oakeley)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
O Holy Night (Adolphe Charles Adam)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
O Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks/Lewis Redner)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Arranged – Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Twelve Days of Christmas (Unknown English c18th century/Frederic Austin)
VOX 7501 (CD: Christmas with the Symphony Brass of Chicago)
Conductor – Barry Faldner
Sources:
- http://www.jayfriedman.net/biography/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Friedman
- https://csosoundsandstories.org/jay-friedman-principal-trombone/
- http://www.brassark.com/Jay_Friedman.html
- https://centerstage.conn-selmer.com/artists/jay-friedman
- https://www.chopsaver.com/a-conversation-with-jay-friedman/
- https://symphonyoprf.org/jay-friedman/
- https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jay-friedman-mn0002174817/credits
- https://www.discogs.com/artist/2092647-Jay-Friedman
- https://www.buckeyebrassandwinds.com/p-510-karl-hammond-jay-friedman-signature-trombone-mouthpiece.aspx
- https://thein-brass.de/en/instrument/old-german-style-friedmann-model/