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Rhapsody in Blue
Mr. Chair returns with their third studio album, featuring their hit arrangement of George Gershwin's ‘Rhapsody in Blue'. The album is a departure from ‘Better Days' and ‘Nebulebula’, stripping away electronics and honing-in on acoustics, melodies, and folk-tunes.
Shows
Music & Collaborations
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For the 100-year anniversary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Mr. Chair was commissioned by the Madison Ballet to write and perform a piano trio arrangement live with dancers. The resulting piece was acclaimed for being distinctly “Mr. Chair” while staying true to Gershwin’s iconic music.
In 2025 Mr. Chair remounted the performance with Madison Ballet and released the much-anticipated studio recording.
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SPECTACULOUS is a collaborative project from the mind of Dequadray White and realized through the music and arrangements of Mr. Chair. Through the lens of an interdimensional being in their journey to rediscover themself, this dynamic work illustrates the depth and breadth of emotion evoked from the human experience. The music encapsulates various genres and pop culture influences to build a dynamic world of cosmic whimsy. This reflects the lived experience of Black, Queer people who continue to defy the bounds of tradition and reality as we know it. It is a truly revolutionary act to be authentically yourself without fear in a world where you are oppressed for who you are. The magic harnessed in this liberatory realization causes something SPECTACULOUS.
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In December 2024, Mr. Chair launched a new project featuring their rendition of Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, selling out multiple venues in the greater Madison area. The holiday project evolved in 2025 with a concert at the iconic Ravinia Festival and an expanded performance at Madison’s Orpheum Theatre featuring the string section of the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
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SIRENA is an original story written by Filipina artist, Leslie Damaso, about a love triangle between a mermaid, the sun and the moon, ending in the beginning of a nation, the displacement of its people and an individual’s search for identity and belonging, set within new compositions and contemporary arrangements of kundiman songs of love and freedom and kulintang.
“SIRENA is an ambitious, breathtaking amalgamation of tradition and innovation, pushing the boundaries of where we can take homeland art when it becomes part of the diaspora”
- Rodlyn-mae Banting, Madison 365, June 28, 2024
with:
Leslie Damaso - vocals, kulintan
Jon Irabagon - saxophone
Janice Lee - violin
Jose Guzman - guitar -
Mr. Chair’s second album Better Days is expansive and varied, toying with fusion, prog rock, jazz, and classical elements. Mr. Chair’s dynamic and fresh sound abounds in the nine sweeping journeys that comprise the record.
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Mr. Chair’s Debut album, featuring over 2 hours of cinematic and ambitious musical journeys.
About
Joyful. Fearless. Unpredictable.
Mr. Chair is an innovative piano trio composed of Jason Kutz (piano), Ben Ferris (bass) and Mike Koszewski (drums). Based in Madison, the trio collaborates with singers, dancers, orchestras, string ensembles, poets and visual artists to pioneer exciting and distinct projects, showcasing their versatile style and interests in improvisational music.
Mr. Chair independently released three acclaimed studio albums of original music: Rhapsody in Blue (2025), Better Days (2023) and Nebulebula (2019). In 2022, Mr. Chair produced Sirena with Guzmán, singer Leslie Damaso, violinist Janice Lee, and saxophonist Jon Irabagon. Sirena is a heartfelt, operatic arrangement of Filipino art songs called kundiman, set to the story of a mythical mermaid. Mr. Chair’s newest collaboration is Spectaculous, an orchestral hip hop album with singer and poet Dequadray White. The debut single from Spectaculous “Tempo” has garnered over 11,000 views on YouTube and +500,000 plays on Instagram and Spotify.
For the 100-year anniversary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Mr. Chair was commissioned by the Madison Ballet to write and perform a piano trio arrangement live with dancers. The show received widespread acclaim and was immediately reinstated for the Ballet’s ’25-26 season.
In December 2024, Mr. Chair launched a new project featuring their rendition of Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas. The holiday project evolved in 2025 with a sold-out concert at the iconic Ravinia Festival, and A Charlie Brown Christmas with Strings, an official and original arrangement of the iconic album featuring full string orchestra and children's choir. The show sold-out two seatings of Madison's Orpheum Theatre and will return to Madison this holiday season.
Other notable productions include the premiere of jazz legend Roland Hanna’s bass concerto, Chant; full reimaginations of Stravinsky's Pulcinella and Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific; as well as commissioned works with UW-Madison Geoscience Professor Dr. Stephen Meyers, musically exploring scientific topics like the big bang and underground wave patterns.
Mr. Chair’s eclectic projects are united by a fearless exploration of musical storytelling, creative independence, technical precision and dynamic, energizing performances
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Ben Ferris is a Bassist, Composer and Educator from Madison, WI. His Quintet released their debut album of original compositions, “Home” in 2016. Ben is a founding member of Mr. Chair. He received a Masters Degree in String Performance and is currently a doctoral fellow at UW-Madison. Ben is the project assistant for the “UW Bridge Ensemble,” a combined string quartet and jazz quartet that does clinics and performances in public schools. Ben teaches a studio of private bass students, and taught in public schools for seven years. He is on the board of directors and faculty for the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. www.bferrisbass.com
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Mike Koszewski is an experienced musician from Madison, WI with a diverse background in the percussive arts. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin - Madison percussion studio, Mike performed, taught, and lectured throughout the midwest and east coast with the ensemble Clocks in Motion. With that group he championed the music of iconic composers such as Steve Reich, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, and Charles Wuorinen while also commissioning and premiering dozens of new works. Highlights of his work with this ensemble include residencies and performances at Interlochen Arts Academy, University of Michigan, Ohio University, Baldwin Wallace University, Casper College, Queensboro College, and College of William and Mary. In recent years he has performed with Oakwood Chamber Players, LunArt Festival, the Madison Symphony Orchestra Concert Organ series, and Dubuque Symphony Orchestra. Mike is also a versatile drum kit player and pit orchestra musician, performing with Four Seasons Theater, Forward Theater Company, Capital City Theatre, and Children's Theater of Madison. He is a member of the experimental jazz/rock combo Lovely Socialite and the Ben Ferris Octet, and is well-regarded as a session/freelance musician in Madison and beyond.
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Jason Kutz is a musician based in Madison, WI, playing, performing, teaching, and composing all styles of music. He is rooted in contemporary music and improvisation, often combining acoustic and classical piano styles with electronic synthesis. He studied recording technology and music business at UW-Oshkosh and completed his Master's in Piano Performance at UW-Madison.
In 2018 and 2019 Kutz was commissioned by Dr. Stephen Meyers, Vilas Distinguished Professor of Geoscience at UW-Madison, to write two pieces of science-inspired music. He was also commissioned by the Wisconsin Academy for Arts, Letters & Sciences in 2022. This work was inspired by Bruce Crownover's prints from The Last Glacier, and the final piece was a music video that accompanied an animation of Crownover's work entitled Melody for a Melting Glacier.
When not performing in Mr. Chair, he is drawn towards free improvisation. He founded the Wonderporium - an electronic, ambiance-making trio that features multi-instrumentalist Noah Gilfillan, tubist Tom Curry, and dozens of synthesizers and pedals. He also performs in a free improvisation duo with saxophonist Jon Irabagon, showcasing their mutual appreciation for music chaotic and beautiful.
You may also find him as orchestra member, graphic designer, or soloist with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Caroga Arts Collective, or in other classical/crossover music organizations.
Media
Videos
Trio
Spectaculous
Collaborations
Oldies, but goodies
Photos
All photography by Mike Grittani, unless otherwise noted. High resolution photos available upon request.
Photo by Kristin Shafel.
With Dequadray White. Photo by Anya Kubilis.
With Jon Irabagon, Tenor.