Meet Will Baker, Bass Trombone

By Rebecca Oliverio

Welcome to our new Bass Trombone player, Will Baker! Will is no stranger to Chicago and we are very happy to have him in the orchestra.

Tell us about where you are originally from and how you ended up where you are now.

I was born and raised in Walnut Creek, California, about 45 minutes inland of San Francisco. My childhood home was full of music from as early as I can remember. My dad is a self trained guitar player and was the lead singer in a band of buddies called the Alter Boys. Thanks to him, I know lots of lyrics to songs by the Beatles, the Eagles, and other bands of that era. My older sister played piano at home, flute in wind ensemble, bass guitar in jazz band, and sang in church. She was the most talented musician in the family by far and helped me choose the trombone after I attended one of her middle school jazz band concerts. She told me that there were never enough trombone players, so if I was alive and could hold a horn I would probably get into jazz band. She was right.

I started playing euphonium in high school and flourished, earning spots in honor bands and eventually wound up at UCLA as a euphonium major (still playing trombone in jazz bands). Early in my freshman year, the UCLA orchestra played the Janacek Sinfonietta, and I got to play in the fanfare brass section of the outer movements. This was my first time ever playing in an orchestra. The fanfare was fun, but the middle movements hit me like a thunderbolt. The sounds of the strings and winds made me feel like I was playing a movie score, and I immediately knew I needed to get into the orchestra. As I looked down the line of brass players, the tenor trombone players were all experienced undergrads and grad students, but the lone bass trombonist was a senior. I checked out a bass trombone, got to work, and fell in love.

After graduating from UCLA in 2010, I went on to earn my master's degree from Northwestern. About a year after I graduated, I won my first regional orchestra job with Orchestra Iowa based in Cedar Rapids. About a year later, I won the Des Moines Symphony audition, and then spent 4ish years playing all over Iowa and teaching lessons in the Chicago suburbs.

My wife and I decided to move back to California in 2017 to be closer to our families before having kids. I won another regional job in Monterey California just after moving, which helped me break into the San Francisco Bay area freelance scene. A series of fortunate events got me subbing regularly in the San Diego Symphony in 2018 and 2019. After Covid, I played primarily with the San Francisco Symphony up until this past August when we moved back to Chicago, now with our two kids in tow!

Do you have any hobbies outside of trombone?

I like strength training, cooking massive portions of meat, reading nerdy fantasy books like the Wheel of Time, playing with my kids, and spending time with my wife. I don't have time for much else!

What is a memory of music you have that still inspires you?

As a listener: My first stadium concert, Red Hot Chili Peppers in Oracle Arena. Arturo Sandoval at Yoshi's in Oakland. My first CSO concert (Symphony Ball 2010, Muti conducting Symphony Fantastique).

As a performer: John Williams music with John Williams conducting the SFS, Miraculous Mandarin and Bartok Concerto for Orchestra on tour with SFS in the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie.

Anything you are looking forward to about Chicago or Lyric?

Seeing the city through the eyes of my kids and enjoying the restaurants now that I can afford to go out to eat. As for Lyric, playing Wagner and Strauss operas!