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 is the newest addition to the internationally renowned brass quintet Meridian Arts Ensemble and joined the Madison Symphony Orchestra trumpet section in 2025.
Heralded for his “wonderful, open sound and beautiful interpretations,” Onstad’s solo performances have included engagements with many regional orchestras and ensembles throughout the Midwest. A champion of new music and advocate for underrepresented composers, Matthew has commissioned and premiered works for trumpet and other brass chamber ensembles while actively concertizing around the nation.
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.
An Army veteran, Onstad served in the 132nd Wisconsin Army National Guard Band and ended his 12-year military career at the rank of Staff Sergeant. He has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, Illinois Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet, and previously held Principal Trumpet positions with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
Onstad has previously taught trumpet at St. Ambrose University, the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. His primary teachers include John Aley, Alex Noppe, Jean Laurenz, Marty Robinson, and Robert Levy.
Matthew is a Yamaha endorsed Performing Artist and Clinician and performs exclusively on 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
TRUMPET
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
HORN
daniel grabois
Daniel Grabois is 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 founded in 1987. With Meridian, he has performed over one hundred world premieres, released fifteen 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 and compositions 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).
In 2025, Grabois released his third solo album, Earth Names, for horn, piano, and cello. His second solo album, Fire Names, comprised a 45-minute piece he composed for horn and tape. His first album in the set, Air Names, featured his own compositions for electronic horn, and the final album in the set, featuring his works for horn and electronics, to be called Water Names, will be released in 2025. Grabois’ compositions, including four etude books and numerous chamber and solo works, are published by Wave Front Music.
In addition to his work as a horn player, composer, arranger, and electronic musician, Grabois is also an avid woodworker and practitioner of martial arts
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
BENJAMIN HERRINGTON
Benjamin Herrington is a founding member of Meridian Arts Ensemble. This brass and percussion group has performed thousands of concerts throughout 16 countries, recorded 14 CDs and over the past 27 years, has received awards and accolades too numerous to mention. Along side his career with Meridian, Herrington has established himself as one of New York’s leading trombonists. He has performed with many of New York’s finest ensembles including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, New Jersey Opera, New York City Opera, and many others. As a prolific champion of contemporary music, Herrington has premiered and recorded dozens of new works from composers representing every continent. He regularly performs with such notables as Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Sinfonietta, New Millennium Ensemble, Speculum Musicae, Sospeso Ensemble, Sequitur, Continuum!, and New York New Music Ensemble. Not surprising, his penchant for brass chamber music has led to collaborations with prominent brass groups. American, New York, Wisconsin, Manhattan, Eastern and Saturday Brass Quintets are among the many. He is also a fixture in New York’s downtown scene where jazz and experimental improvisation abound. Regular appearances with big bands like Pittsburg Collective, Mosaic, and the Tom Pierson Ensemble as well as experimental groups Tilt, Flex Orchestra, Da Da Da and the avant-rock powerhouse Dr. Nerve, demonstrate the versatility that has been the hallmark of Herrington’s career. Born in Mississippi to a family of music teachers, he graduated in 1986 with performance honors from New England Conservatory, studying with John Swallow. He then completed his graduate studies at Juilliard in 1990 under the tutelage of Per Brevig. Throughout his career, Herrington has shared his experience and enthusiasm as a teacher for various institutions including East Carolina University (NC), Arnhem Conservatory (Holland), Lucy Moses School (NY), Ridgewood Conservatory (NJ), and the Juilliard MAP Program. He now teaches trombone at Princeton and Columbia Universities and as a member of Meridian Arts Ensemble, presents seminars and masterclasses at music schools and festivals worldwide. His recording credits include works on Channel Classics, 8bells, BMG, CRI, Koch, New World Records, Barking Pumpkin, Musical Heritage Society, Summit and many others. Over the years, Herrington has performed extended Broadway runs of musicals Urinetown, Fiddler on the Roof and Chorus Line, Radio City Christmas Spectacular and can currently be heard nightly performing in the hit Broadway musical On the 20th Century.
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