Musician profiles are in alphabetical order.

Noteworthy: Trained in horn & piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music & University of Toronto; member of Oakwood Chamber Players; Outreach manager for UW-Madison Summer Music Clinic.
Oddest practice quarters: By hummingbird feeder at Aspen Festival.
Funniest concert experience: Playing a brass quintet at the finish line for the New York City Marathon.
What your colleagues don't know about you: I am an enthusiastic & creative vegetarian cook.

Noteworthy: First American to win the Maurice Andre International Trumpet Competition; soloist with the English and Vienna Chamber Orchestras; recorded & performed with Peter Schickele/PDQ Bach; Professor of Music, UW-Madison; member of Wisconsin Brass Quintet & former Member of American Brass Quintet.
Oddest practice quarters: Ancient Greek ampitheatre with outstanding acoustics.
Funniest concert moment: Playing a concert in Venezuela with soprano Jesse Norman, who was drowned out by tree frogs in a nearby jungle.

I started playing in the fifth grade. I actually wanted to play clarinet, but the guy at the music store said, "You look like you're going to have long arms--you should play the trombone." I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. Among other things, I met my wife Diann (another trombonist) playing in the pep band at a football game the first week of college. We've been married 30 years and have an adult son, Jeff. My day job is at UW-Whitewater, where I am Chair of the Music Department and teach Music History and Humanities courses.

I came to Madison in 1982 for grad school in musicology--I hold a Ph.D from UW-Madison--and I began playing in the MSO the next season. In 1990 I became the orchestra's bass trombonist. I have also been writing our program notes for the last 25 years. For me, this combines my interests in performance and history--learning about and playing great music well with people you like...and getting paid for it. How cool is that?

Noteworthy: Doctorate degree from Ohio State University; Professor of Trumpet: UW-Whitewater; Principal Trumpet: WI Chamber Orchestra; member of Whitewater Brass Quintet.
Oddest practice quarters: In a canoe in a lake in the Canadian Boundary Waters.
Funniest concert experience: A trombonist lost control of his slide, which went sledding across the floor, under my chair and over the edge of the stage into the audience.
What your colleagues don't know about you: I raced sports cars during college.
Recurring musical fantasy: To perform the National Anthem as soloist before a Browns football game in Cleveland Stadium.

Noteworthy: Former principal tuba of the Nurnberg Philharmonic, Chicago Brass Ensemble and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Currently play with Rockford, Green Bay and Milwaukee Festival City Symphonies. Performed as tuba soloist in Europe.
Oddest practice quarters: On the shores of Horicon Marsh while surrounded by hundreds of geese.
What your colleagues don't know about you: I'm more concerned about the future of endangered species than the future of the tuba or the symphony orchestra.
Recurrent musical fantasy: Introducing the new dress code for orchestras world-wide (plaid flannel shirts, jeans and running shoes) during a musical extravaganza in Vienna with Karl Bohm conducting and Jenny Lind singing.

Noteworthy: Bachelor of Music, Lawrence Conservatory; Master of Music, UW-Madison; faculty horn at UW-Whitewater; Principal Horn: WI Chamber Orchestra, member of Artemis Horn Quartet, Whitewater Brass Quintet and Wingra Woodwind Quintet.
Oddest practice quarters: On the beach in Alabama

Funniest concert experience: Playing a "Sunday Afternoon Live at the Elvehjem" concert with no audience. The museum was closed due to a blizzard, but we played the concert for radio broadcast anyway.
What your colleagues don't know about you: I'm learning to play the violin with my 12 and 6-year old sons.
Recurring musical fantasy: To play fiddle in a bluegrass band.

Noteworthy: B.M. UW-Madison; studied at the Utrecht Conservatory, The Netherlands. 1996 Neal Silva Young Artist Award Winner, live solo recital on WPR. International Trombone Association Marstellar Award Winner, solo performance at 1994 ITA workshop.
Oddest practice quarters: Landing strip.
Funniest concert experience: I was playing in the pit for a production of Peter Pan. During a fight scene, a wooden dagger plummeted into the pit hitting me in the noggin which caused much pain, but none of my colleagues noticed. After the show, a lady from the audience came rushing down and asked if I was ok. All the other musicians looked at me like "What the heck is she talking about?"
What your colleagues don't know about you: I had height reduction surgery. Only kidding, I'm naturally short.

Noteworthy: Seeing her students achieve their performance goals through major scholarships & solo opportunities with orchestras; playing Mahler's Third Symphony with MSO.
Oddest practice quarters: A storage room full of Santa costumes.
Funniest concert moment: Performing a piece titled "And the White Wind Blew" and immediately afterwards driving a long way home in a blizzard.
What your colleagues don't know about you: I was once a church organist.

Noteworthy: B.A. in music education from St. Olaf College and M.M. in horn performance from UW-Madison; member of Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and Artemis Horn Quartet; building contractor and woodworker.
Funniest concert experience: Playing "Christmas in July" with my horn quartet at a Jellystone campground. At any given time we had between zero and three people listening, mostly from golf carts. It was not a roaring success.
Recurrent musical fantasy: To play all of the Mahler symphonies in order...hey, wait a minute - some fantasies do come true!

Noteworthy: M.M. University of Minnesota; B.M. University of Northern Colorado; Winner of the 2000 Rocky Mountain Concerto Competition and the 2000 Angie Southard Chamber Music Competition.
Funniest concert experience: Playing a Led Zeppelin tribute concert with the MSO. They pulled a guy in a sleeveless t-shirt from the audience to conduct the next number. He was one of the most enthusiastic conductors I've ever played under.
What your colleagues don't know about you: A few weeks before my first audition for college I got cold feet and almost didn't pursue music.
Recurrent musical fantasy: To live in a time before TV and recorded music, when live music was the main source of entertainment. Playing any instrument was a virtue because you could entertain friends and family in your own home.
How do you pronounce your name? Stish - it's a Polish name.