Critic Jess Anderson previews trumpeter John Aley's performance as featured soloist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra: "A member of the UW School of Music faculty since 1981," he writes, "Aley's roots in Wichita, Kan., provided a solid foundation on which to base his fast-rising musical career. He's enthusiastic and energetic, which, in view of the many projects he has under way, is a very good thing." In addition to the Madison Symphony, Aley is active in the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and maintains a heavy performance schedule spanning the standard season plus summer classes and concerts at Aspen, Interlochen and the Yale Summer School. Still the professor of trumpet at the UW-Madison School of Music and principal trumpet with the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Aley's recording and performance résumés have grown ever more illustrious in the intervening 20 years.
Young man with a horn
From the Isthmus archives, Jan. 30, 1987