If you would like to contact me to play for you or to commission an arrangement or composition, please email [email protected].
"Morden’s piece, Eat Your Spinach!, variations on the Popeye theme, was one of the most colorful pieces of the performance." ...review from The Gettysburg Times on the performance of GBOofNY at the Gettysburg Brass Band Festival.GRAMERCY BRASS ORCHESTRA OF NEW YORK TO RELEASE BRUBECK IN BRASS on the KOCH LABEL IN LATE 2008.
Max Morden is a musician noted for his abilities to cross genres from baroque to jazz, and has been heard in many of the areas finest ensembles including Distinctly Brass, Solid Brass, Princeton Chamber Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, and the NJSO. In addition he has performed with great artists like Tom Harrell, Vic Juris, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Tim Ries, Ken Wessel, John Patitucci, Dave Stryker, Dena DeRose, Joe Locke, Dave Brubeck, Steve Johns, Bob Malach and Johnny Mathis. Mr. Morden is the principal soloist for numerous churches and performs principal trumpet duties for many choral groups including the Oratorio Society of New Jersey and Glen Ridge Choral Society. He occupies the trumpet chair in the Chico Mendoza Latin Jazztet and is the Concert Master, Chief Arranger/Composer, and Assistant Conductor for Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York, which is the Artist-in-Residence at Caldwell College.As an arranger, Mr. Morden contributed nine arrangements for the CD "Christmas Time Is Here" recorded by Gramercy Brass on KOCH records. Recent commissions include a piece for the celebration of the 25th anniversary season of Music at Morristown, a concerto for tuba and band for renowned soloist Scott Mendoker, and finishing his current project for GBO arranging most of the album of the music of Dave and Chris Brubeck for a recording titled "Brubeck In Brass". This recording is scheduled to be released late 2008.
An avid educator, Mr. Morden and Gramercy Brass Orchestra of New York launched an exciting brass and percussion camp for students in grades 4 - 12 on the campus of Caldwell College. This is an intensive week of training in brass band performance culminating in a finale side-by-side performance with the students and Gramercy Brass Orchestra of NY.
His degrees include a Bachelor of Music Education from Eastern Michigan University, a Masters in Jazz/Commercial Music Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and Doctoral studies in performance from Rutgers University.
Legendary jazz producer Creed Taylor says of Mr. Morden, "when I played trumpet, this is who I wish I sounded like". And the New Jersey Classical Society calls Max "one of the state's top trumpeters".