Thomas Hultén, Principal Trombone with the Houston Grand Opera/Houston Ballet, started playing at the age of ten in the local Salvation Army Band in his hometown of Katrineholm, Sweden. After completing his military service with the Swedish Army Band, he studied trombone performance at the Gothenburg Conservatory. In 1988, he won a position with the Bohus Big Band, one of Sweden’s two professional full-time big bands. Also a sought-after free-lance player, he has performed with the Gothenburg Symphony, Copenhagen Phil and the Royal Swedish Opera.

Since moving to Houston, Texas in 1997, he has performed with ROCO, the Houston Symphony, Theater Under The Stars, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Patti Austin, Johnny Mathis, and Michael Bolton.

Thomas has played in the orchestra for several touring Broadway musicals, such as “Lion King”, “Book of Mormon” and “Wicked” at the Hobby Center in Houston.

An accomplished composer and arranger, he’s been involved in several recording projects and is also a founding member of the Houston Jazz Orchestra.

Hultén was a featured artist at the International Trombone Festival in 2018 and has toured Europe, Japan, Germany, Holland, Australia, New Zealand, and the USA. His jazz-album “Slide Side” was released by Tierra Studios in 2009 and is available on iTunes and Amazon. “Slide Side” was nominated for five Grammys in 2010.