JIM ABBATIELLO Third Generation Trombonist

Jim Abbatiello, principal trombonist in the Symphony of Hills, was born in Las Vegas, Nevada late one night. His father was playing trombone for the Milton Berle show in a Las Vegas casino when he received word from the hospital of Jim’s impending birth. When Jim’s dad rushed to the hospital between shows, the doors of the hospital were locked due the lateness of the hour. A window was opened and someone shouted, “It’s a boy!” Thus began life for a third generation trombonist.  Jim’s paternal grandfather was a dance band leader in Saint Louis, Missouri who had been sent to the USA as a youth to live with relatives. Some Italian families did this for the religious freedom offered in America and so the young men could escape conscripted service in the Italian army.  He was a baritone horn player and trombonist who found work quickly, eventually becoming a band leader in the Big Band Era. In Saint Louis he met and married Jim’s grandmother who was a violinist on the Orpheus Theater circuit.

Jim attended school briefly in Las Vegas and then moved to the Los Angeles suburb of Ojai where he began playing percussion instruments in the fifth grade. In the eighth grade Jim heard a recording of a trombone piece played by a master musician. This recording had a lasting effect on Jim as it spoke to his soul just as earlier trombone music must have spoken to his father and grandfather before him.  Jim thrived as a trombonist in high school; however, he became even more invigorated and disciplined about practice when he attended Santa Barbara City College, majoring in music.  Jim met and married his wife, Brenda, in a church in Santa Barbara where he played and Brenda sang for services. They have a son, Jimmy, who is now an accomplished pianist and a fourth generation trombonist. Reflecting on his musical experiences in California, Jim said, “I had some wonderful trombone teachers and great music experiences and opportunities and met some famous trombonists.”  However, the young Abbatiello family’s journey from life in California to becoming transplanted Texans was truly a departure for them set in motion when they joined Jim’s mother on a trip to the Texas Hill Country in 1992. His mother decided immediately that she was moving to Kerrville and did so the following year. After visiting her on holidays, it seemed as though the hills of Kerrville were also calling them from the crowded, ever-more-hectic life in California.  Another omen: When visiting Kerrville in 1992, Jim vividly remembers stopping at the Point Theater on the river and wondering if he could ever be able to play in the pit. Two weeks after the family moved here in 1995, Jim went to the Point Theater and introduced himself to theater director Doug Ballentine, who hired him immediately to play in the pit orchestra for the current play.

Jim and Brenda own a commercial cleaning business in Kerrville. His avocation has always been and will continue to be his involvement in musical activities. In addition to being the principal trombonist in the Symphony of the Hills, Jim is the bell choir director at Zion Lutheran Church, director of the Schreiner University Pep Band, and trombonist in the Sentimental Journey Orchestra.  Speaking of his experience playing in the Symphony of the Hills, Abbatiello states, “Where in the world would I get to play all the great music that I play but in Kerrville and in this symphony orchestra?” Regarding the musicians he works with in the Hill Country, Jim says, “Music is a great equalizer. We have doctors, lawyers, bankers, and former music professors in the orchestra. Not many people get to do what I do. I know what a great thing I have here in Kerrville.”