Greg Zelek with The Diapason Brass & Timpani

21/22 Overture Concert Organ Season Finale

In my first of many collaborations with fellow Madison musicians, I am excited to perform alongside The Diapason Brass quintet and timpani in a concert that will pair our Mighty Klais with some of the loudest instruments in the orchestra. This program of music written for a variety of pairings will include Gigout’s Grand Choeur Dialogue, a transcription of Rachmaninoff’s famous Vocalise, and an arrangement of Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ and timpani. Audiences will enjoy the expressive and fluid partnership of MSO’s Principal Trumpet, John Aley, and the newly appointed trumpet professor at UW–Whitewater, Matthew Onstad; the warm sounds of MSO’s Principal Horn, Linda Kimball; the creative flair of UW–Madison’s trombone professor, Mark Hetzler; the thrilling facility of MSO’s Principal Tuba, Josh Biere; and the thunderous rhythm of MSO’s Principal Timpani, John Jutsum. The event will have me pulling out all the stops on our Overture Concert Organ to match the excitement and volume of my colleagues on stage!
– Greg Zelek

Please take note: We will adhere to all public safety guidelines and cooperate with Overture Center for your safety. Proof of vaccination is no longer required to enter the building. Masks will be required for the duration of this performance while in Overture Hall. Visit madisonsymphony.org/FAQ for more.

Greg is amazing — his playing touches our hearts. – MSO Patron

Zelek is quite extraordinary in the classical music world. – Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life

…the most enjoyable concert I have ever encountered. – Bill Wineke, Channel 3000

John Aley, Trumpet

John Aley is the trumpet professor emeritus of the UW-Madison School of Music. He is a former member of the American Brass Quintet, with whom he performed extensively throughout the U.S. and internationally. He has performed with New York ensembles Musica Sacra, American Symphony Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and American Composers’ Orchestra. He has recorded with the American Brass Quintet, PDQ Bach Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, American Composers’ Orchestra, Wisconsin Brass Quintet and has a solo recording Autumn.

Aley has performed as soloist with the English Chamber Orchestra, Composers’ Brass Group, and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra in concert with Maurice Andre. He has performed as principal trumpet and soloist with the Wichita Symphony, and the Greenwich and Stamford Symphony Orchestras. As principal trumpet with the Madison Symphony Orchestra he has been featured as a soloist on several occasions. He counts himself as fortunate to have performed in orchestras under the baton of legendary musicians Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland.

During the summer he is a Valade Fellow and artist/teacher at the Interlochen Arts Camp, Michigan. Aley has also taught and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, the Yale Summer School of Music, UW-Madison Summer Music Clinic, the New England Music Camp, Minnesota Festival of the Lakes and the Hot Springs Music Festival. John Aley has also been a faculty member at Brooklyn College of Music, Wichita State University, and Western Connecticut State College. He has been a featured performer, clinician and adjudicator for the International Trumpet Guild.

Matthew Onstad, Trumpet

A Wisconsin native, Dr. Matthew Onstad serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Wisconsin- Whitewater where he teaches applied trumpet, coaches chamber music, performs with the Whitewater Brass Quintet, and teaches arts appreciation courses.

While earning his DMA and MM degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Onstad served the Mead Witter School of Music as a Project Assistant performing with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a faculty ensemble-in-residence. He holds the rank of Staff Sergeant in the 132nd Wisconsin Army National Guard Band and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, and the Isthmus Brass. He held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2021.

Dr. Onstad has previously taught trumpet at St. Ambrose University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh. He has served as a master clinician with the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, the 132nd Army Band, and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra throughout the United States. Dr. Onstad received his BM from the University of Wisconsin- Oshkosh. His teachers include John Aley, Alex Noppe, Jean Laurenz, Marty Robinson, and Robert Levy. Matthew is an Edwards Artist and Clinician.

Linda Kimball, Horn

Linda Kimball is principal horn of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. The exciting musical life of hornist Linda Kimball includes performance, teaching, arranging, and composition. In addition to her active orchestral career, Linda had been involved extensively in chamber music; having been a decades-long member of both the Wingra Woodwind Quintet, the Whitewater Brass Quintet, and the Artemis Horn Quartet.

Linda served on the music faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for 35 years. She created the annual UW-W “Fall Horn Festival” – a day-long extravaganza for horn-players of all ages. The lack of excellent music for young horn ensemble prompted Linda to begin writing and arranging; she has over four dozen compositions and arrangements, ranging from Mozart to Broadway show tunes. Having recently retired from her teaching position at UW-Whitewater, Linda looks forward to having more time for creating music.

The horn has taken Linda to Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Scotland, and Sweden, and sometimes to the orchestra pit at the Overture Center for Broadway shows like “The Lion King” and “Wicked.” Linda received a Bachelor of Music degree in music education from the Lawrence Conservatory of Music, and a Master of Music degree in horn performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Mark Hetzler, Trombone

Born in Sarasota, Florida in 1968, Mark Hetzler began playing his father’s trombone at the age of twelve. He went on to receive a B.M. from Boston University and an M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music. Mark was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center and completed a three-year fellowship with the New World Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.

As a member of the Empire Brass Quintet from 1996-2012, Mark performed in recital and as a soloist with symphony orchestras around the world. He has appeared with the group on live television and radio broadcasts in Asia and the United States. Mark appears on several Empire Brass CDs on the Telarc label, including Firedance, The Glory of Gabrieli, and a recording of Baroque music for Brass and Organ.

Mark has released twelve solo recordings on the Summit Records label, featuring classical, jazz and electro-acoustic genres. Active in the creation of new music, he has worked with composers in some of the leading new music research studios around the world, and has appeared at the New York Electro-Acoustic Music Festival and the Society for Electro- Acoustic Music (SEAMUS). Recent commissions include new works from composers Ben Davis, David Vayo, James Stephenson, Mark Engebretson, Chester Udell and Robert Rowe. In addition, Mark is active as a composer and arranger, fusing classical styles with many non- classical influences. He can be heard performing his own original music on an electric trombone in the adventurous new music group Mr. Chair.

Former Principal Trombone of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Mark has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops and the Florida Orchestra. He is the Professor of Trombone at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and a member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet.

Joshua Biere, Tuba

Josh Biere has been principal tubist in the Madison Symphony since 2013, and formerly held same position with the Kenosha Symphony. He has performed with many local orchestras including the Milwaukee Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, DeMoines Symphony, Debuque Symphony, Rockford Symphony as well as many others.

An established chamber musician, he has played in numerous ensembles and in dozens of venues in the Chicagoland area, and has soloed with many groups and given numerous recitals throughout the region. He is a highly sought after clinician and teacher, maintaining a studio of well over thirty-five tuba and euphonium students. Mr. Biere holds degrees from Illinois Wesleyan University and Northwestern University, and is currently pursuing a DMA at University of Wisconsin Madison as a Paul J. Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Graduate Fellow. His principal teachers include Emily Binder, Ed Risinger, Rex Martin and Tom Curry. Mr. Biere currently resides in Sun Prairie, WI with his wife three kids and two cats. He enjoys reading, video games, puzzles, delicious food, and philanthropy work, especially with Habitat for Humanity.

John Jutsum, Timpani

Principal Timpani with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, John Jutsum has performed in the United States with the Jacksonville, Toledo and Utah Symphonies, the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. Born in Anchorage, Alaska, his early musical training was in piano, with percussion initially a secondary pursuit.

Having entered the Oberlin Conservatory as a pianist, he soon changed course and obtained a B.M. in Percussion and Music Theory from Oberlin followed by a M.M. from The Juilliard School. His principal teachers included Michael Rosen, Barry Jekowsky, Roland Kohloff, Michael Bookspan, and Paul Yancich. After freelancing in New York City and spending summers with the Colorado Philharmonic (now National Repertory Orchestra) and as a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, he was appointed Principal Timpani of L’Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI in Torino, Italy where he performed for five years. He has performed with a variety of internationally acclaimed conductors, including Rafael Frühbeck di Burgos, Carlo Maria Guilini, Eliahu Inbal, Ferdinand Leitner, and Yuri Temirkanov. Currently in his twentieth season with the MSO, John also works as an IT director in Minneapolis, where he resides with his wife Polly. Their daughter Robyn lives in New York City.

About Greg Zelek

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS

William Steffenhagen
Elaine and Nicholas Mischler

Greg Zelek is the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Organist and the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ.