George “Lem” Trombley was born in 1883 in Saginaw, Michigan. Trombley and his wife, Maude (born 1883- ), moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1905 where he worked as a jeweler and watchmaker. It was not long before he was playing the trumpet for one of the most popular dance bands in the area, Salomon’s Band, while also substituting in other bands. As he was playing with Salomon’s Band, many of Trombley’s compositions were published and performed by other local bands.

The collection includes, “Under the Summer Moon,” (1916), “I Left My Heart In Ireland” (1916), “Sunshine and Sorrows” (1917), and one of his more popular hits, “The Story of a Rose” (1912) that had 15,000 copies sold and were 4,000 in Kalamazoo alone. He and his wife also had two sons, Winfield (born 1911) and Vincent (born 1913), during this time.

Trombley, in 1910, ended his jewelry and watchmaking career and began teaching music out of his home at 130 Arcadia Court and continued in his new home at 113 Den Bleyker Place in 1911. From 1915 to 1925, he moves his music lessons to a room in the McNair Building in the 320-28 block on S. Burdick before establishing the Kalamazoo Conservatory of Music and Associated Arts in 1926. The Conservatory occupied the third floor of the Home and Savings Bank Building at 129 W. Main and contained seven studios and recital hall that seated 150. There were fifteen experienced instructors that offered lessons in piano, organ, voice, violin, viola, cello, bass, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, saxophone, harmony, composition, dancing, and dramatic art. He also started a Young Orchestra of 52 members around 1926.

In 1926, Trombley left Kalamazoo for Santa Rosa, California when his wife had become ill. While in Santa Rosa, he founded the Santa Rosa Orchestra in 1927 where he conducted 179 concerts over 29 years before retiring in 1957. Trombley died on December 30, 1963 in Santa Rosa, California.