Corey A. Wallace

Trombonist Corey Wallace has gained the respect and admiration of many in his relentless pursuit of all things good music and life experiences. 

Most recently, Wallace was included in the prestigious Downbeat Magazine’s 2024 Critic’s Poll (August 2024) for Rising Star Trombonist - a category which gives wider (international) recognition to musicians for their contributions in music and their dedication to their craft/instrument. Steven Bernstein’s Millenial Territoy Orchestra, of which he is a member, was also recognized in the Critic’s Poll as one of the top five big band/ensembles of 2024!

In 2019, he was also selected as Best Trombonist in the Hot House Magazine/Jazzmobile NYC Reader’s Poll in a deep field of legends and luminaries - Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Davis, John Fedchock, and Ryan Keberle - not just for his playing, but for being a staple and anchor on the NYC scene, connecting with a wide span of generations.

In 2012, he was selected as Best Trombonist by the Washington [D.C.] City Paper for his “technical fluidity and for the heavy dose [of] introspection that sits right on the surface of his playing”.

For more than a decade, Wallace has made a place for himself as a vital part of the NYC scene as a leader, collaborator, performer, curator, music director, and freelancer. He has performed in big bands/horn sections/orchestras/ensembles for concerts, festivals, recordings, and tv appearances with luminaries such as Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Benny Golson, Robert Glasper, Keyon Harold, DeeDee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Nicholas Payton, Jazzmeia Horn, Mark Whitfield,  John Hendricks, Sheila Jordan, Esperanza Spaulding, Stefan Harris, Kamasi Washington, Theo Croker, Terrace Martin, Ravi Coltrane, Antonio Hart, Conrad Herwig, Kuumba Frank Lacy, Valery Ponomarev, Billy Harper, Rufus Reid, Andy Bey, Joe Chambers, Lee Konitz, and more…Currently, he can be seen performing and touring regularly with Grammy award winning trumpeter Steven Bernstein & the Milennial Territory Orchestra, as well as powerhouse vocalist Andromeda Turre, and the electrifying Igmar Thomas’ Revive Big Band and Revive Orchestra!

In February 2024, Wallace was a featured artist and clinician for Penn State University’s African American Music Festival, curated by professor emeritus, Dr. Anthony Leach. There, he performed his arrangements with various groups, gave masterclasses, and sat on a panel discussion geared towards careers in music/music education and creating space for oneself as a minority in the field.

He has also performed with R&B, gospel, hip hop, and genre bending artists like Ms. Lauryn Hill, Jill Scott, Kelly Clarkson, Rick Ross, Swizz Beatz, Just Blaze, Rosalía, Lillias White, Kim Burrell, Bilal, Talib Kweli, Alice Smith, Keke Wyatt, Black Thought and Questlove from The Roots, Damien Sneed, Darrin Atwater, Earl St. Clair, Bonnie Prince Billy, Queen Esther, and YG Marley (recording) to name a few.

In November 2022, Wallace’s work on Kelly Clarkson When Christmas Comes Around… (2021) helped earn the album a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Album. It rose to 22 on the Billboard Top 200, Number 1 on the Billboard US Top Holiday Albums!

In August 2022, legendary DJ and hip hop artist D-Nice along with bandleader/trumpeter Igmar Thomas created the Revive Orchestra to bring to life D-Nice’s 2020 pandemic project :”Club Quarantine”. Wallace joined as principal/lead trombonist for a legendary night at Carnegie Hall featuring R&B and Hip Hop luminaries CL Smooth, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Queen Latifah, Hezekiah Walker, DJ Clark Kent, Ashanti, Jadakiss and Styles P from The LOX.

Wallace would return to Carnegie Hall three more times over the next year and a half (with additional stops in Washington DC at the Kennedy Center), performing with hip hop legend Busta Rhymes, again with Rick Ross, and for a follow-up Club Quarantine concert with D-Nice and Thomas (principal/lead trombonist and bass trombonist); the latter showcases icons and legends Bun B, Salt-N-Pepa, Scarface, Baby Cham, 702, Llyod, Israel Houghton, and saxophonist Mike Phillips, along with a phenomenally casted orchestra!

In June 2022, Wallace began working on Broadway as a substitute in one of its premiere Tony Award wining shows: Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre. As a featured soloist (and onstage), ensemble member, and percussionist (glockenspiel), he contributes to the show in major way - it is truly unlike any other show!

He has regularly appeared in other Broadway shows including A Beautiful Noise, Back to the Future, as well as Tony Award winning shows - MJ the Musical and Water for Elephants!

Wallace also contributed to the film score of Judas and the Black Messiah film score, which was recognized in a major way - with a 2022 NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Soundtrack/Compilation!

He has performed at regional, national, and international festivals such as Ottawa Jazz Festival, Rochester International Jazz Festival, Saratoga Jazz Festival, NYC Summerstage, Winter Jazz Fest, the Tribeca Film Festival, Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston SC, the DC Jazz Fest, Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, the Da Camera Jazz Series in Houston, TX, Summer Nostos Festival in Athens, Greece, and more.

He also has appeared on FXs Pose, VH1s Black Ink Crew, NBCs The Jimmy Fallon Show, and the PBS special Josh Groban’s Great Big Radio City Show (2022)

 Feb 2021-Aug 2022 he joined the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music faculty, as the jazz and applied trombone instructor teaching improvisation and techniques used within the idiom and as a freelancer, as well as applied trombone studies. As a teaching artist, he has taught at the Sanaa Music Workshop (based in New Orleans), the Jazz Arts Collective Summer Jazz Workshop (Fordham University), and was a faculty member and artist-in-residence in a variety of programs at Jazz at Lincoln Center (2017-2020).

He’s also been a vital part of the jazz education programs at the Baltimore School for the Arts, the Harlem School for the Arts, and taught general music in the New York Public School System. He has a growing number of private students dedicated to studying the trombone, the music, and learning from his wide array of life and music experiences.

In Feb 2022 he became the director of music at KIPP:STAR College Prep Charter School , a middle school in Harlem, Manhattan, NY. Here he is building a music program and pouring into his community to positively impact the youth and their families!

He is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. He leads the Corey Wallace DUBtet - a group dedicated to creativity and integrity in Black American Music and beyond .

He graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance, where he studied with Mark L. Lusk and Dan Yoder and performed in ensembles under wind ensemble director Dennis Glocke and conductor Geraldo Edelstein. He also earned a master’s degree from Towson University in Jazz/Commercial Music, where he studied with artist/jazz educator/former lead trombonist of the US Army Jazz Ambassadors Jim McFalls.