Spencer Merk is a multi award-winning trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator sharing his time between Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Baltimore. He holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University (M.M.) and the College Conservatory of Music (B.M.) and has 3 albums out as a leader (Stories Big and Small-2025, At Least-2023, Last Place in a Bear Race-2022). He has won the ITA’s J.J. Johnson International Trombone Competition (2022), and the U.S. Naval Academy Band’s Call for Scores Competition (2023). He was an honorable mention for ASCAP’s 2025 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Awards and has been a finalist at the North Texas and American Trombone Workshop competitions.

Spencer has performed all over the world, playing at festivals such as Primavera Sound (Barcelona and Porto), INMusic (Zagreb), the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, and the Newport Folk Festival. He has performed at the International Trombone Association annual conference, North Texas’ Jazz Trombone Day, and the American Trombone Workshop. He has performed with Jeff Hamilton, Maria Schneider, Sean Jones, Umphrey’s McGee, Jeezy, Jeff Coffin, Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, Kim Deal, and many other world-class artists. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by Umphrey’s McGee (featuring Jeff Coffin), Warren Wolf, The U.S. Naval Academy Band, Mike Gordon, Walfredo Reyes Jr., the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra (featuring Jim Snidero), the OMEA District 13 Honor Jazz Band, and the University of Dayton Jazz Band. Many of these charts are available for sale on this website.