Chad O’Brien is a trombonist, educator, and composer/arranger based in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to an active freelance performance career, he currently serves as Event Coordinator and Lecturer at the University of Louisville. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a Master of Music in Instrumental Performance and Jazz Performance in 2019; his undergraduate studies earned him a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies (Trombone) and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music in 2012.

Chad is an avid participant in the music education community; he has presented clinics at the Illinois Music Educators Conference, Indiana Music Education Professional Development Conference, and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) In-Service Conference and has written articles for several NAfME publications. Additionally, Chad teaches private students on trombone, euphonium, trumpet, and tuba, as well as in the fields of jazz and music theory. Chad formerly held positions as Band Instructor at Rockland Country Day School in Congers, New York and Adjunct Brass Faculty at the Francis W Parker School in Chicago, IL.

In his 20 years of applied study on trombone, Chad has studied with Brett Shuster, Ansyn Banks, Mark Kellogg, Hal Crook, Andy Rosza, and others. Throughout his performance career, Chad has played with ensembles ranging from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra to the Eastman Wind Ensemble, from the Gil Evans Centennial Project to the internationally renowned rock band Earth, Wind, and Fire.

Most recently, Chad co-founded the Louisville Jazz Initiative, a collective of Louisville musicians committed to culturally authentic teaching and playing of jazz music, where he serves as a Teaching Artist and Operations Manager. In his free time, Chad enjoys many hobbies including studying web development at Code Louisville and urban farming with his wife, Emily, and their many animals.