Biography
Justin
Tokke was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1990. In 2000, he moved to
New York City to pursue his musical studies. In September of 2004, he
was accepted to the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, a public arts
high school founded by Tony Bennett. He studied with Eli Kronenberg and
Ken Lieberson in performance, theory, and composition and with William
Stevens in Jazz. With a scholarship to the Bloomingdale School of Music
“Music Access Project” (MAP) program, he received
professional trombone lessons with Rafi Malkiel,
and theory lessons with Brandon Vasquez while playing with various
orchestral, chamber, and jazz combo groups.As a classical trombonist, Justin was principal chair with the New York City All-City High School Concert Band and Orchestra under the directions of Dr. Raymond Wheeler and Dr. Charles Wang. Both ensembles performed at Alice Tully Hall and Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center in New York. In 2005 and 2006 he recevied full-tuition scholarships to the the Summer Arts Institute at Stuyvesant High School under the direction of Robert Rams and Bob Silberbush.
As a jazz trombonist he has played with a variety of groups in the New York City region. In 2006, he performed a regular Sunday brunch improvizational jazz combo gig at the renowned Jazz Standard jazz club with the Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra under the direction of David O’Rourke. In 2007, as section leader with the York College Blue Notes big band under the direction of Tom Zlabinger, he performed with Rachel Z, Tito Puente, and Wally Gator Watson. His most significant jazz performance to date is with the Jazz Band Classic, often cited as one of the top amateur big bands in New York City. Associated with the New York Youth Symphony under the direction of Chris Winans, they have performed with Joel Lovano, Scott Wendholt, Steve Turre, Victor Goines, Slide Hampton, Jimmy Heath, Lew Soloff, Richard Perry, and Marvin Stamm in renowned New York City jazz venues such as The Allan Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, and The Garage Club.
Justin's primary musical focus is composition. He is an advanced member of the New York Youth Symphony's “Making Score” program under the direction of Derek Bermel. The program focuses on composition study and master classes with local, national, and international composers including Wynton Marsalis, Tobias Picker, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. His private composition teachers have included Jonathan Faiman and David Loeb.
He has received several awards and premieres for his compositions. He received honorable mention for his composition “French Horn Foxhunt” in the Pike's Peak Young Composer's Competition and was the first-ever recipient of the music theory award at the Bloomingdale School of Music. Several of his compositions have been premiered. “French Horn Foxhunt” was conducted by the composer at Stuyvesant High School during the Summer Arts Institute. “Passacaglia” was premiered in 2007 by the Bloomingdale School of Music Chamber Orchestra. “All Hail the Queen” was premiered by the All-City High School Concert Band at Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center. Jazz composition "The Shark Song" was performed by The Blue Notes Big Band. He has a commission from the Frank Sinatra School of Arts to compose an orchestral tribute to the grand opening of the new school in September 2009. His most recent and significant premiere was his orchestral composition entitled “Explosions of Joy”, performed to great aclaim by the New York Philharmonic on May 1st, 2008 for their School Day Concert for High School students.
Three of his works have been published by Imagine Music Publishing of Medina, NY. They are "French Horn Foxhunt" for Concert Band, "All Hail the Queen" for Concert Band, and "Prayer" for String Orchestra. Links to these works can be found on the Music page of this site.
He is currently studying composition with David Loeb at Mannes College, The New School for Music, simultaneously pursuing a degree at the State University of New York. He lives in Nyack, NY.