About
American trumpeter Max Matzen is an active performer throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is currently a member of The Emerald Brass Quintet, which recently released its feature album Danzón on the Albany label. In 2012, Matzen was named principal trumpet of the American Festival Orchestra (UT) and more recently joined the trumpet section of the Utah Festival Opera as both section and principal trumpet. He has also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Lubbock Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony. Additionally, he has performed as a member of the Eastman Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall as well as the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL.
Matzen has given recitals and masterclasses at institutions worldwide and has performed and presented at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Saxophone Congress, the Florida Music Educator’s Conference, the Utah Music Educator’s Conference, and the Jazz Education Network Conference. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra, The Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble, The Utah State University Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah State Alumni Band. As a member of Aggie Music Project (AMP), the USU faculty jazz combo, he recently toured the Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Vienne Jazz Festival (France), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), and Ancona Jazz Festival (Italy).
His most recent solo recording, Nightsongs – Trumpet Impressions with Piano and Harp (MSR Classics, 2024), has been widely praised by critics. Fanfare calls it “suave, attractive… sensitive” and “recommended,” while the ITG Journal lauds its “grace and power of the cornet style,” “virtuosic touch and immense control,” “effortless and rich tone,” and “stylistic mastery and creativity.” Colin Clarke (Fanfare) describes the album as “beyond criticism… a fascinating release,” and Joel C. Thompson (Cherry Grove Music Review) commends the “superb musicianship throughout” and calls it “an outstanding MSR recording… that shares the many expressive and poetic [qualities] possible when [the trumpet] is in the hands of a virtuoso musician.”
An active educator, Matzen served as Professor of Trumpet at Texas Tech University before joining the faculty at Utah State University in 2012, where he directs the DownBeat award-winning USU Jazz Orchestra, coaches jazz combos, and maintains a highly successful trumpet studio. His students have earned positions in premier ensembles such as “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and have gone on to graduate study at institutions including Indiana University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
A devoted scholar, Matzen is a regular contributing author to the International Trumpet Guild Journal and The Instrumentalist. He holds MM and DMA degrees in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of North Florida. Matzen is a Yamaha Artist and performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets.
Matzen has given recitals and masterclasses at institutions worldwide and has performed and presented at the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the International Saxophone Congress, the Florida Music Educator’s Conference, the Utah Music Educator’s Conference, and the Jazz Education Network Conference. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra, The Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble, The Utah State University Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah State Alumni Band. As a member of Aggie Music Project (AMP), the USU faculty jazz combo, he recently toured the Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Vienne Jazz Festival (France), Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), and Ancona Jazz Festival (Italy).
His most recent solo recording, Nightsongs – Trumpet Impressions with Piano and Harp (MSR Classics, 2024), has been widely praised by critics. Fanfare calls it “suave, attractive… sensitive” and “recommended,” while the ITG Journal lauds its “grace and power of the cornet style,” “virtuosic touch and immense control,” “effortless and rich tone,” and “stylistic mastery and creativity.” Colin Clarke (Fanfare) describes the album as “beyond criticism… a fascinating release,” and Joel C. Thompson (Cherry Grove Music Review) commends the “superb musicianship throughout” and calls it “an outstanding MSR recording… that shares the many expressive and poetic [qualities] possible when [the trumpet] is in the hands of a virtuoso musician.”
An active educator, Matzen served as Professor of Trumpet at Texas Tech University before joining the faculty at Utah State University in 2012, where he directs the DownBeat award-winning USU Jazz Orchestra, coaches jazz combos, and maintains a highly successful trumpet studio. His students have earned positions in premier ensembles such as “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and have gone on to graduate study at institutions including Indiana University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
A devoted scholar, Matzen is a regular contributing author to the International Trumpet Guild Journal and The Instrumentalist. He holds MM and DMA degrees in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music and a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of North Florida. Matzen is a Yamaha Artist and performs exclusively on Yamaha trumpets.