"Every serious euphonium player should find this piece and study it . . . no audience exists that would not fall in love with this work."
- Jerry Young,
International Tuba Euphonium Journal, 2008
"His fresh and experimental compositions fill a niche in the area of music for lower brass instruments. Bristol composes for professional musicians as well as young emerging musicians and has a broad audience appeal."
- Alabama State Council on the Arts, 2016
Doug Bristol is retired (2022) Professor of Music Theory and Technology at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, USA. While starting out as a jazz performer and writer, having penned music performed and recorded by the One O’Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas (Escape Velocity, 1986) and the University of Northern Colorado (North Rim, 1997), his output over the last 25 years has concentrated mainly on classical chamber music with a few excursions into larger ensembles. About his Fantasy for euphonium and orchestra, Jerry Young writes, "Every serious euphonium player should find this piece and study it . . . no audience exists that would not fall in love with this work" (International Tuba Euphonium Journal, 2008). See discography link for works available on CD.
Recent awards include the 2017 Commissioned Composer of the Year from the Alabama Music Teachers Association and the Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Music Composition in 2016.
Doug is an active and versatile trombonist performing in a variety of classical, commercial, and jazz settings. He has performed numerous recitals with the trombone quartet Quatuor du Sud and also with the Alabama Tuba/Euphonium Quartet; concerts with Ray Charles, Natalie Cole, Four Tops, O'Jays, Temptations, Shirley Jones, Mary Wilson; many other commercial and jazz artists; and over 230 performances of musical productions at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Doug also performs regularly with Cathedral Brass of Birmingham.
Doug earned the Doctor of Arts in Theory and Composition from the University of Northern Colorado with a secondary emphasis in Jazz Pedagogy, M.M. in Trombone Performance from Georgia State University, and B.M. in Jazz from the University of Tennessee.
UNC Jazz Press, TAP Music, Cimarron Music Press, Tuba-Euphonium Press, ITA Press and Warwick Music publish his works.