Kids Carousel Concert: Mr. Chair

Saturday, August 9th, 2025
11:00 am
Sherman’s Park, Pavilion Stage

Free event, donations appreciated!

“Kids Carousel Concerts” is a FREE family-friendly event series that takes place throughout the summer. Come for the show and join for a free carousel ride afterwards!

Support Our Free Concerts

Mr. Chair is a Madison-based dynamic and innovative ensemble composed of Jason Kutz (piano), Ben Ferris (bass) and Mike Koszewski (drums). 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 produced two albums, set to release soon. “Sirena,” with singer Leslie Damaso and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, is a heartfelt, operatic arrangement of Filipino art songs called kundiman, set to the story of a mythical mermaid. “Spectaculous” is an orchestral hip hop album and new band with singer and poet Dequadray White.They’ve also released two studio albums of original fusion music: “Nebulebula” (2019) and “Better Days” (2023). 

Other notable performances and projects include a recent premiere of jazz legend Roland Hanna’s bass concerto; a headlining collaboration with the Madison Ballet performing an original arrangement of Gerswhin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”; 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, technical precision and dynamic, energizing performances.

“Mr. Chair’s idiosyncratic mix of jazz, classical and prog-rock opens up endless possibilities for musical genre blending.“ (All About Jazz)