trumpet
Jon nelson
Professor of Music at The University at Buffalo, JON NELSON maintains an active career as performer, producer and collaborator. His six solo CD recordings Fable, Trumpet Nature, Gran Calavera Electrica, Metalofonico!, and Genkin Philharmonic all explore new music for brass in small and large ensembles. He served as Principal Trumpet for the Festival Orchestra d’Aix en Provence in France under the direction of Pierre Boulez, in the Mineria Festival Orchestra in Mexico City, and in numerous Broadway pit orchestras in New York City. Active in the field of education, he has served on the faculty at the Tanglewood Music Center, Princeton University, Boston University, Hartt College, and Middlebury College. Jon Nelson holds a B.M. from The Juilliard School where he studied with Mark Gould. He has also studied with Antoine Cure in France, Laurie Frink and William Vacchiano in New York, and Don Harry in Buffalo.
highlights
Founding member in 1987
Associate Professor at SUNY Buffalo
Trumpeter/Composer/Arranger/Conductor
aspiring Tubist
trumpet
MattHEW Onstad
A Wisconsin native, Dr. Matthew Onstad serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he teaches all things trumpet, coaches chamber music, and performs with the Whitewater Brass Quintet. He has held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra since 2022.
In 2020, Matthew completed an album titled “In Memoriam” in fulfillment of his doctoral research. This collection of works consists of compositions written for trumpet and piano in memoriam of an iconic musical composer, family, or idea. “In Memoriam” features debut recorded works by Bruce Broughton, Kyle David Frost, Mirosław Gąsieniec, Edward Gregson, and James Stephenson, and is available on all music platforms.
Onstad 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, and many other orchestras and ensembles throughout the country. Matthew held the position of Principal Trumpet with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2021.
Matthew performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets and Toshi mouthpieces.
He resides in Middleton, WI with his wife, Beth and their two boys, Elliot and Benji.
highlights
Member of Meridian since 2023
Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Staff Sergeant in the 132nd Wisconsin Army National Guard Band
HORN
daniel grabois
DANIEL GRABOIS is Associate Professor of Horn at the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he performs in the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and serves as the Curator of SoundWaves, a series he created that combines science lectures with music performances. The former Chair of Contemporary Performance at the Manhattan School of Music, Grabois now serves as Director of the Electro-Acoustic Research Space (EARS), a facility which he founded with funding from a UW2020 large-equipment grant. Grabois is also the hornist in the Meridian Arts Ensemble, a New York City based brass quintet now in its thirtieth season. With Meridian, he has performed over seventy world premieres, released twelve CDs, received two ASCAP/CMA Adventuresome Programming Awards, and toured worldwide, in addition to recording or performing with rock legends Duran Duran and Natalie Merchant and performing the music of Frank Zappa for the composer himself. Grabois has also created numerous arrangements for Meridian. A freelance musician from 1989 to 2011, Grabois performed with most of the classical music ensembles in New York City, including the Metropolitan Opera, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York City Opera, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and St.Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. He appeared on numerous recordings of classical music, rock, and jazz, and played in Broadway pits (some 36 shows, in thousands of performances).
Grabois recently released his first solo album, Air Names, for electronic horn, for which he wrote all the music. He is currently at work creating the follow-up, to be entitled Fire Names. His compositions, including three etude books and numerous chamber and solo works, are published by Brass Arts Unlimited (https://www.brassarts.com/daniel-grabois.html).
In addition to his work as a horn player, composer, arranger, and electronic musician, Grabois is also an avid practitioner of tae kwon do.
Daniel Grabois is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
highlights:
Member of Meridian since 1989
Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison
First-degree black belt in taekwondo
Hornist/Composer/Arranger/Electronic Musician
Yamaha Performing Artist
trombone
faustino díaz Mendez
FAUSTINO DÍAZ MENDEZ is the first Latin-American trombonist to win the prestigious International Trombone Competition (Jeju-do, Korea, 2013). He is an internationally known musician and in-demand soloist. He has been a finalist in the “Citta di Porcia” International Competition in Italy (2011), a three-time winner of the Mexico National Brass Competition, and recently served as principal trombone in the Zurich Opera for a season. He has also held principal positions with Mexico’s National Symphony Orchestra, the Mexico City Philharmonic Orchestra, and the UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra which is considered one of Mexico’s most elite ensembles.
Mr. Díaz is a graduate of the National Conservatory of Mexico, Rotterdam Conservatory, and the Lausanne Conservatory in Switzerland where his main teachers were Benjamin Alarcon, Jorgen van Rijen, and Jacques Mauger, respectively.
Currently, Mr. Díaz is a trombone, trumpet, and tuba Yamaha Artist since 2012 and regularly gives recitals and masterclasses in France, the US, Switzerland, Colombia, and the Netherlands among others.
highlights:
Member of Meridian since 2019
International soloist
Yamaha Trombone Artist
Yamaha Trumpet Artist
Yamaha Tuba Artist
tuba
Tom Curry
TOM CURRY has served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music since 2014. He is the tubist in the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, a faculty ensemble-in-residence at the Mead Witter School of Music, and has performed with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Philharmonic, and many other orchestras. He is a Miraphone Performing Artist.
As a soloist and composer, Curry's interests include non-traditional performance techniques, the application of electronics and fixed media, and improvisation. He has commissioned, premiered, and composed works for tuba in a wide variety of contexts and has been invited to perform at numerous conferences, festivals and universities, including recent appearances at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the Jihlava Tuba Workshop (Czech Republic), the Midwest Tuba Trombone and Euphonium Conference, the New Music Gathering, and many others.
Curry has released several solo and chamber recordings in recent years, including: water_wind, a solo EP featuring the premiere recording of Bryn Davis’ ☞□❒ ❄□❍ 👍◆❒❒⍓ for microtonal tuba; s.i.p_1, an improvised electro-acoustic recording by Nominal Duo; Don’t Look Down, a collaboration with trombonist Mark Hetzler and percussionist Anthony Di Sanza; and Alight, his first solo recording comprised of modern works for tuba.
highlights:
Member of Meridian since 2022
Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tubist/Composer/Arranger
Miraphone Performing Artist