Based in Madison and winner of the 2021 Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award for Best Jazz Artist, Mr. Chair brings a truly unique performance to every stage they play.
Mr. Chair looks like a jazz combo, enchants like a string quartet, and electrifies like a rock band, all while delighting listeners with their fresh and authentic sound. As classically-trained musicians well-versed in jazz, electronics, prog rock, world music and beyond, Mr. Chair is a contemporary fusion ensemble for music fans of all backgrounds. Their sound palette is diverse, and used to tell stories in styles cinematic, surreal, romantic, funky, and whimsical.
Their projects are as diverse as their sound. They have been commissioned by UW-Madison Geoscientist Dr. Stephen Meyers to write music inspired by science concepts. They are working with former UW-Madison First-Wave Scholar, activist, and singer Dequadray James White to write an orchestral hip-hop album. Another collaboration has yielded a 50-min opera with singer Leslie Damaso, featuring violin, kulintang, a personal narrative, and original, contemporary arrangements of kundiman (Filipino art songs). Finally, they reimagined Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.
Equally comfortable as educators, the members of Mr. Chair have conducted masterclasses with students from middle school to college on the topics of performance, composition, style, arranging, orchestration, interpretation, and the creative process.
Arrangements of their music feature string quartet, string orchestra, additional brass/winds, and symphony orchestra. They have presented this music with KASA Quartet, the Caroga Lake Music Festival, and members of Akron Symphony Orchestra.
“The euphonious elements at the heart of Snarky Puppy’s appeal are also present in Mr. Chair’s debut.“ (PROG UK) In 2019, Mr. Chair independently released Nebulebula, a sprawling, 2-hour, double-disc CD. Also printed as a triple-vinyl, the album features spoken word, a gospel choir, string quartet, and more. Their second album, titled Better Days, was released March 3, 2023.
About Us
Ben Ferris, Bass
Ben Ferris is a Bassist, Composer and Educator from Madison, WI. A student of NEA Jazz Master Richard Davis, he graduated with a music-education degree from UW-Madison where he is currently pursuing a masters in String Performance. Ben performs regularly in the midwest, especially with the Ben Ferris Trio, a creative music ensemble that focuses on new compositions by musicians in the band. His group the Ben Ferris Quintet released their debut album, “Home” in 2016 featuring original compositions by Ben and other members of the ensemble. He also leads the Ben Ferris Octet, a group that plays a diverse selection of jazz repertoire. Ben competed as a finalist in the 2017 International Society of Bassists Jazz Performance competition.
Ben is a founding member of “Mr Chair,” a contemporary ensemble of electronic trombone (Mark Hetzler), keyboard (Jason Kutz), percussion (Mike Koszewski) and electronic upright bass. As a sideman Ben performs with Darren Sterud, Nuggernaut (jazz-funk), The Jon Hoel Trio (original compositions with saxophone led trio), Gabe Burdulis Band (Nashville based original pop/rock music), as well as a number of performances in the classical, jazz, rock and contemporary music scenes. As an educator, Ben teaches a studio of private bass students, and has taught K-12 general music, songwriting, strings and jazz ensembles in public schools for seven years. He is on the board of directors and faculty for the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. More info can be found on his website, www.bferrisbass.com.
Ben is a NS (Ned Steinberger) Artist and plays an NS CR5M bass.
Mike Koszewski, Drums & Cymbals
Mike Koszewski is an experienced musician from Madison, WI with a diverse background in the percussive arts. After graduating from the Univeristy 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.
By day he is a Digital Marketing Manager at Overture Center for Arts and spends free time with his pup Penny, playing hockey, and learning chess.
Jason Kutz, Piano
Jason Kutz grew up in Kiel, Wisconsin, a small town in the countryside. He studied piano and percussion at a young age, and eventually went on to receive his B.M. in Recording Technology/Music Industry from UW-Oshkosh and M.M. in Piano Performance from UW-Madison, studying both classical and jazz.
He still resides in Madison where he works as a pianist, composer, teacher, arranger, artist, graphic designer, and sound engineer. He tours regularly around the Midwest with Opera for the Young, a professional outreach opera company that performs abridged operas for elementary schools. He is a three-time concerto competition winner, and has recently travelled to Beijing, China to teach a summer program at the Magic Piano Arts Academy.
His musical interests lie wholly within and between the classical and jazz worlds. All music is constructed with the same building blocks, and it's only with small changes in formula that genre and affect differ. His greatest interest is discovering and blending these borders, and using them as fuel for each musical project.
Jason's passion abounds outside of music, in soccer, yoga, interactive media, cleaning, painting, drawing, traveling, and discovery.