Science of the Slide

Proudly hailing from Washington, D.C., Hakeem Bilal is one of the most sought-after trombonists today. His performances have been called “A dynamic concert experience” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and he has been featured on Pittsburgh Today Live on CBS and Talking Pittsburgh on NBC. Mr. Bilal performs across many genres of music with ease and teaches internationally.  Most recently, he performed a three week tour of Asia, performed at the Indianapolis 500, and taught masterclasses in Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.  Mr. Bilal holds degrees from The Peabody Conservatory and Carnegie Mellon University and now resides in Pittsburgh, PA.

Mr. Bilal is the Assistant Professor of Trombone at West Virginia University and remains in high demand as an orchestral player and soloist. He is a regular extra with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony; he has recently performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and West Virginia Symphony. He also serves as the Bass Trombonist of C Street Brass, a member of River City Brass, and the MC of Beauty Slap.  Mr. Bilal was featured as a guest artist at the 2016 Trombone Summit in Fort Worth, Texas and was invited to perform at the 2018 International Trombone Festival in Iowa.  His main teachers include Randall Campora of the Baltimore Symphony, Dr. Denson Paul Pollard of the Metropolitan Opera, Dr. David Begnoche of Texas Christian University, and Murray Crewe of the Pittsburgh Symphony. 

Prior to his appointment at West Virginia University, Mr. Bilal was on faculty at Youngstown State University in Ohio.  In addition to being seen in various education and performance videos on YouTube, Mr. Bilal can be heard on all streaming formats with Beauty Slap, C Street Brass, River City Brass Band, and on PBS Great Performances with The Cleveland Orchestra.