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Mead Witter School of Music Faculty Artist Series

Mark Hetzler, trombone
Tom Curry, tuba
Anthony Di Sanza, percussion
Matthew Endres, drum set

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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 in Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, China, Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy, Austria, Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland, Bermuda, St. Bartholomew and across the United States. He appeared with the group on live television and radio broadcasts in Asia and the United States, as well as Empire Brass recordings on the Telarc label.

Mark has released twelve solo recordings on the Summit Records label with programming that features music in a wide variety of genres. In addition to recording and performing, Mark is active as a composer, orchestrator and arranger, fusing classical styles with many non-classical influences. He has composed a trombone concerto, Three Views of Infinity, as well as numerous works in solo, chamber and large ensemble settings, including wind ensemble, orchestra, big band, brass quintet and jazz/rock combos.

In addition to his solo recordings, he has recently released three ensemble recordings. Don’t Look Down (2020), which he co-produced with UW-Madison colleagues Tom Curry and Anthony Di Sanza, features their collaborative concert-length original composition Don’t Look Down, exploring the impact of social media and technology on society. Mark can also be heard performing his own music on the recordings of the adventurous new music group Mr. Chair. This versatile quartet released their debut recording Nebulebula in 2019, and followed it up with their second album Better Days in 2022.

These recordings can be found on Bandcamp:

https://curryhetzlerdisanza.bandcamp.com/album/dont-look-down

https://mrchair.bandcamp.com/album/nebulebula

https://mrchair.bandcamp.com/album/better-days

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 joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004, and is currently the Professor of Trombone at UW–Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music. As a faculty member in the School of Music, he teaches the Trombone Studio, coaches Chamber Music, teaches Brass Fundamentals courses to Music Education students, co-directs the Low Brass Ensemble and performs as a member of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet (faculty ensemble-in-residence). Mark is a Getzen Performing Artist who plays the 4147 IB Custom Reserve tenor trombone. Learn more about Mark at his website: www.markhetzler.com

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Tom Curry has served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music since 2014. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree as well as a Master of Music degree in tuba performance from Northwestern University. He also holds degrees in tuba performance and communication arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Curry is currently 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 Joffrey Ballet, 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 and settings, 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 Midwest Tuba Trombone and Euphonium Conference, the New Music Gathering, Northwestern University, Michigan State University, Indiana University and many others.

Curry has released several solo and chamber recordings in recent years, including: water_wind (self released, 2021), a solo EP featuring the premiere recording of Ben Davis’ ☞□❒ □❍ ◆❒❒⍓ for microtonal tuba; Don’t Look Down (self released, 2020), a collaboration with trombonist Mark Hetzler and percussionist Anthony Di Sanza; and Alight (Summit Records, 2018), his first solo recording comprised of modern works for tuba, including Sofia Gubaidulina’s Lamento, Galina Ustvolskaya’s Composition No. 1 “Dona Nobis Pacem,” and Giacinto Scelsi’s Maknongan.

His newest ensemble, Nominal Duo, is a collaboration with euphoniumist Brett Keating. The duo is dedicated to merging brass performance with electro-acoustic practices through their own original compositions, commissions, and improvisations. Established in 2018, Nominal has performed throughout the U.S. and in Canada and was recently featured in the 2021 Virtual Tuba Euphonium Conference. Their debut EP, s.i.p_1 was released in 2020.

In his position at the Mead Witter School of Music, Curry teaches applied tuba and euphonium, coaches brass chamber ensembles and co-conducts the University of Wisconsin Low Brass Ensemble. He presents master classes and clinics throughout the country and teaches tuba and euphonium at the University of Wisconsin Summer Music Clinic. Since 2016, Curry has also served as Director of Brass Choirs for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras.

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Anthony Di Sanza, a recognized international performer and educator, has performed, presented master classes, and held residencies in North America, Europe and Asia. He has appeared as a visiting artist at over 50 colleges, universities and conservatories, and has performed as soloist and chamber musician in some of the world’s most important concert halls. Anthony can be heard on over 15 internationally distributed CD recordings with various artists, including; Sole Nero-Piano and Percussion Duo, Mark Hetzler Chamber Ensemble, Linda Maxey with Galaxy Percussion and Keiko Abe and the Michigan Chamber Players. In review of his 2011 solo CD release, On the nature of…, All Music Guide writes; “Di Sanza dazzles not only in the assurance and polish of his playing but in his tremendous vitality and spontaneity.” In 2015 Anthony’s recording of Michael Udow’s multiple percussion concerto Moon Shadow was released on the Equilibrium label..

Anthony has performed with numerous orchestras as timpanist or percussionist and currently serves as principal percussionist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He has performed/presented at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) on fifteen separate occasions and studies/performs music from Brazil and the Middle East. Anthony is regularly involved in the premiering of new works from a wide variety of composers, including with Akira Nishimura, Maki Ishii, Kaoru Wada, Nebojsa Zivkovic, Keiko Abe, Michael Udow, Dave Hollinden, Laura Elise Schwendinger, Les Thimmig, Joseph Koykkar, Payton MacDonald, Jonas Tamulionis and Dennis Wilson.

Also a percussion composer, Di Sanza’s 1st concerto for darabukka (Middle Eastern goblet drum) and percussion quartet has been performed internationally and his second concerto, titled Time’s Arc, was premiered in 2013 at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. He has works published with Alfred, HoneyRock and Tapspace and his book Improvisational Practice Techniques is published by RGM music. Anthony has a line of signature marimba mallets distributed by Encore Mallets and Black Swamp Percussion produces the Di Sanza Triangle Trigger, which he designed in collaboration with Black Swamp.

Anthony earned the bachelor of music education degree from Youngstown State University and graduate degrees in percussion performance from the University of Michigan. Currently professor of percussion at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Anthony is an endorser of Encore Mallets, Black Swamp Percussion, Sabian Cymbals and Remo Drumheads, as well as an educational endorser of Pro-Mark Drumsticks.

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Born in Sauk City, Wisconsin, Dr. Matthew Endres is the teaching professor of drum set and jazz history at the University of Wisconsin, and is the UW Marching Band Percussion Coordinator. In addition, he adjudicates music festivals and competitions extensively throughout the United States. He received his bachelor of music degree in drum set at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, his master’s degree in jazz studies from the University of Illinois, and his doctoral degree in jazz studies and ethnomusicology at the University of Illinois.

Endres has performed extensively as a bandleader and a sideman in national and international venues. He is the drummer for the international award-winning group Old Style Sextet, which in 2014 placed second in the world-renowned Cotai Jazz and Blues Competition in Macau, China. He has appeared on multiple albums, including It’s About Time (2013) with the Adrian Barnett Septet; the Old Style Sextet self-titled album issued by Blujazz (2014); Chris Beyt’s 120 (2015); The Clark Gibson Studio Orchestra’s record, Bird with Strings: The Lost Arrangements, issued by Blujazz (2015); The Chris Beyt Trio’s, A Trio For Three, issued by Ears&Eyes Records (2020); The University of Illinois Concert Jazz Band’s record, The Music of Pepper Adams (2020); and Places with the group, Gate Check. Endres also currently holds an endorsement with Bopworks Drumsticks, based in Austin, Texas.

Endres has worked with talented artists, including, Grammy-award winner, Doc Severinson, Brad Leali, Chris Brubeck, Charles McPherson, Jim Masters, Sharel Cassity, Marquis Hill, Robert Irving III, Frank Gambale, Tom Garling, Víctor García, Michael Blum, Shawn Purcell, Darden Purcell, Oliver Nelson Jr, Jim Pugh, Dave Pietro, Grammy-award winner, Charles “Chip” McNeill, Ron Bridgewater, Dave D’Angelo, Carlos Vega, Larry Gray, Jeff Halsey, Glenn Wilson, Richard Drexler, Mark Colby, Alex Graham, Clark Gibson, Tito Carrillo, John “Chip” Stephens, Joan Hickey, and Adrian Barnett.