Named one of Canada’s “hottest 30 classical musicians under 30”, Chicago based tubist Jarrett McCourt holds the Principal Tuba chair of the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and the Santa Fe Opera and is the Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at the UMKC Conservatory. Prior to this, Jarrett held teaching positions at Vanderbilt University, the University of Memphis, the University of Manitoba, and was the Principal Tubist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 2018-2021. He has also held positions with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the New World Symphony. Jarrett’s playing has been called “magnificent” by the Palm Beach Daily News and “warm, romantic and seamless” by the South Florida Classical Review.
As a soloist, Jarrett won the top prize in the brass category of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal’s Standard Life Competition in 2014, becoming the first tubist to do so in the competition’s 80-year history. Jarrett was also a finalist in the XVI Tchaikovsky Competition (the inaugural year for brass participants) in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the only North American tubist to participate in the live rounds. Jarrett has performed with a number of different ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Canadian Brass.
Jarrett is also a certified yoga instructor (YTT200) and certified crisis hotline worker (Crisis Text Line), and has been a guest on popular music-themed podcasts including The BrassJunkies, Sound Mind Musician, That’s Not Spit It’s Condensation, and The Mindful MusicalLife Podcast speaking largely about ways to improve one’s mental health as a musician in the 21st century. Jarrett earned a Bachelor’s of Music (Tuba Performance) and a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (Ethics) from the University of Western Ontario and a Master’s in Tuba and Euphonium Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan. His primary teachers are Brent Adams, Fritz Kaenzig, Gene Pokorny, Warren Deck and Craig Knox.
