Jan Duga – Principal Tuba
Jan Z. Duga is a freelance tubist and educator in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Jan served in The United States Air Force Band, Washington D.C., until she retired in 2013 as a Chief Master Sergeant after 30 years of service. Travelling to all 50 states, she participated in the 50th Anniversary of VE-Day in Moscow, Russia in 1995 and in 1996 performed at two International Military Tattoos in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway.
Jan graduated from The Ohio State University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music degree in solo tuba performance from Arizona State University in 1982. Her teachers include her father, Jules Duga, Robert LeBlanc, Raymond Nutaitis, Arnold Jacobs, Michael Bunn and Paul Krzywicki. Prior to joining the Air Force, she was a music educator in the Chillicothe, Ohio public school system.
Jan was a featured soloist with the Brass Band of Columbus at the 1992 International Tuba Euphonium Conference (ITEC), and also with the 34th Minnesota Infantry Division Band at the 1998 ITEC. She is a charter member and serves on the Board of Directors of the International Women’s Brass Conference (IWBC), and conducted and performed in the Joint Service Brass Ensemble at the IWBC conferences in 1993, 1997 and 2001. She was honored at the 2012 conference with the first Lifetime Service Award for her contributions to the brass world.
She has performed with Monarch Brass at the 2015 International Trumpet Guild conference, the 2016 International Trombone Festival, the 2016 Midwest Clinic and at the 2017 IWBC conference. Jan is principal tuba of the Manassas Ballet Theatre Orchestra, the Capital Wind Symphony and Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra and Brass Quintet, and also performs with the Virginia Grand Military Band.
