Ralph Sauer

Ralph Sauer is an American trombonist and teacher.

Sauer is the recently retired Principal Trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Sauer joined the orchestra in 1974, after serving as the Principal Trombonist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for six years. During that time, he was also the Principal Trombonist with the Canadian Opera Company and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and taught at the University of Toronto. Sauer made his Los Angeles Philharmonic concerto debut in 1979, performing Kazimierz Serocki's "Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra" with Zubin Mehta conducting - a work whose U.S. premiere Sauer gave at the Eastman School of Music in 1965. In March 2003, Sauer premiered Augusta Read Thomas’s Trombone Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sauer is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he studied with Emory Remington.

Sauer has appeared as soloist with many orchestras and has given master classes and recitals throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, and the United States. He has appeared at the Stratford, Marlboro, and Aspen summer music festivals and recently was visiting professor at the Eastman School of Music while on leave from the Philharmonic. Currently, Sauer is on the faculty of California State University. Sauer frequently performs with the Philharmonic's New Music Group and is a founding member of Summit Brass.

He taught Christian Lindberg.