American trumpeter Dr. Max Matzen is an active performer throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. 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. Matzen has also performed with the Rochester Philharmonic, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Lubbock Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, and the Fort Worth Symphony.
Matzen has given recitals and masterclasses at institutions all over the world and has performed and presented clinics at conferences of the International Trumpet Guild, the World Saxophone Congress, Florida Music Educator's Conference, Utah Music Educator's Conference, and the Jazz Education Network Conference. As a soloist, Matzen has performed with the Utah Festival Opera Orchestra, The Texas Tech Symphonic Wind Ensemble, The Utah State University Symphony Orchestra, and the Utah State Alumni Band. Internationally, Matzen is a frequent recitalist in the Osaka and Kyoto region of Japan. As a founding member of Aggie Music Project, the Utah State University faculty jazz combo, Matzen recently completed a tour of prestigious jazz festivals including the Umbria, Vertibo, Ancona, Vienne, and Montreux Jazz Festivals.
A highly active educator, Matzen served as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at Texas Tech University for two years before joining the faculty at Utah State University in Logan, UT. He also has served as a trumpet clinician for the American Band College (OR), as well as the Hochstein School of Music and Dance (NY). Matzen has given trumpet clinics at many of America's universities including University of Florida, The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Kentucky, University of Minnesota, and Brevard College, among others. Students from Matzen's trumpet studio have earned positions in some of America's premier musical organizations such as The “President's Own” United States Marine Band, as well as earning graduate school offers from institutions such as Indiana University, The University of North Texas, and The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
Matzen is a regular contributing author to the International Trumpet Guild Journal, as well as The Instrumentalist, and currently can be heard on MSR, Sea Breeze-Vista, and Albany recording labels as a soloist and ensemble member. He earned a MM and DMA (Performance and Literature) from the Eastman School of Music and a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of North Florida.
