As 41-year teaching veteran Don Hough is retiring from The University of Tennessee’s School of Music, his final Trombone Night promises to be a blast.

Almost every semester since Hough has been teaching at UT, the Trombone Studio has given a concert to display its musical mastery on the instrument. Since Hough will be retiring at the end of this semester, many former students and friends of the professor will attend and join the current Studio in a tribute to their surrogate father.

“There will probably be about 150 people, mostly former students, who are either attending the Trombone Night or the December dinner,” Hough said. “We’ll have people from Oregon to Massachusetts to California coming, so it’ll be quite an event.”

Nate Malone, a senior trombone student majoring in studio music and jazz, is extremely excited about the event. Even as a senior, Malone says he’ll only be able to recognize a handful of faces.

“There’ll be guys who studied with Don in the ‘60s and ‘70s all the way up to the present,” Malone said. “It’s kind of a culmination of everything Don has done.”

Matt Morris, a bachelor of music trombone graduate, agrees.

“Don Hough has really become a fixture in the School of Music, as well as just in the Knoxville music scene,” Morris said. “There’s been an organized effort to bring back as many alumni as possible, and there will be some numbers involving these guys sort of as a gift to Don.”

Though the concert usually runs longer than most studio recitals, Trombone Night promises to have something for everyone. From classical to jazz, the students of the Trombone Studio have worked all semester to prepare their pieces of choice. Some students will perform in groups as well as play solo.

Gabriel Osborne, a sophomore trombone student in studio music and jazz, stated that with so much happening, he doesn’t have time to be excited.

“I’m more nervous than excited,” Osborne said. “But it’ll be fine. There will be a lot of good players there because all the alumni guys are coming in.”

Of course, the headline group of the night will be the Tennessee Trombonery, the award-winning jazz group made up of five top jazz trombonists. Morris said that, including the Tennessee Trombonery, Hough’s groups and students have been finalists in or won at least 13 national and international competitions.

Yet, with such a long and rich history, Hough has become embedded in the area’s musical roots, and many students are saying goodbye to one of the school’s finest. Malone praises his teacher for having such a large impact on his life for four years.

“Don has been a huge influence on my life, both musically and as a human being, like a father figure,” Malone said.

And even as a sophomore, Osborne is feeling the weight of Hough’s absence already.

Osborne said he is cramming for time, trying to make all his arrangements “while I still can and he’s still here, before I’m thrown to the wolves.”

However, Hough assures his students that an interim professor will be in place well before next semester, and the search for a permanent replacement for Fall of next year is already underway.

Nevertheless, the Trombone Studio is still under Hough’s full control. And under Hough’s direction, Morris said, the Studio is both hard-working and easy-going.

“It’s generally a fun, laid-back group,” Morris said. “A good way to describe the whole Studio and the way Don runs it is very down-to-earth and down-to-business — a hard-working group that doesn’t allow itself to take itself too seriously.”

Morris said that even if students are not directly affiliated with Studio or School of Music, they could definitely have an incredible night of music on their hands. Trombone Night will be held at 8 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Building’s James R. Cox Auditorium.