Mike Forbes

Tuba / Compositor

Participated in the 2018 edition

An artist of vast and diverse musical talents, Mike Forbes (born in 1973, currently living near Madison, Wisconsin), “… is an excellent tuba player with a solid, colorful tone, superb technical skills, and a dramatic style” (American Record Guide). He can be heard on his two solo albums on Summit Records: Forbes Plays Koetsier (Summit Records), on which he performs all seven pieces for solo tuba by Dutch composer Jan Koetsier, and his most recent release, Forbes Plays Forbes, featuring his own compositions for tuba. He has been a featured tuba player with Guy’s All Star Shoe on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keiller and also gave the first-ever solo tuba recital on the popular Wisconsin Public Radio broadcast, Live from the Chazen. Recently, he collaborated with the European Tuba Phenomenon, Sérgio Carolino, on a recording, Full Tilt, featuring many of his works for tuba and percussion duo… an album that was released in 2018. Dr. Forbes is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He studied at the University of Maryland (DMA), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (MM), and during his freshman year at Penn State (BM), he participated in an exchange program in Manchester, England, where he continued his studies at the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music. His principal teachers included John Stevens, Toby Hanks, Gene Pokorny, Marty Erickson, and Mark Lusk.