Oscar Utterström

Oscar Utterström is a Swedish trombonist, composer, arranger and educator based in Nashville, Tennessee and Oslo, Norway. His versatile playing and experience in many styles make him an in-demand session player on trombone, bass trombone and euphonium. Internationally, he has performed in Canada, China, South Korea, and Europe. As a freelance trombonist, Oscar has performed and/or recorded with acts such as Shania Twain, Lauren Daigle, CeCe Winans, Kelly Clarkson, Alan Parsons, Johnny Reid, the Temptations, the Four Tops, My Morning Jacket, Diamond Rugs, Cage the Elephant, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Taylor Swift, Rachael Lampa, and Emily West. Oscar has performed with the Nashville and Chattanooga Symphonies.
Oscar is a founding member of the New Orleans style brass band Halfbrass.

As a composer, Oscar mixes his Swedish roots with American and world music, giving the finished product a unique sound. Oscar has released three albums under his own name, "Home" (2008), "Departure" (2012), and “The Bigger Picture” (2024). These recordings feature Oscar on many brass instruments as well as electric trombone. The latest album is a collaboration with Los Angeles based lyricist Wayne Moore who has put lyrics to many of Oscar's instrumental songs and features the vocals by Molly Parden.

Oscar has written horn arrangements for many different artists, both for live use and recordings, including: 
My Morning Jacket for their Bonnaroo shows 2008 and 2011 and their sold out New Years Eve at Madison Square Garden show in 2008. Oscar also played trombone on and arranged for MMJ’s Grammy-nominated album "Circuital" (2011).
Oscar played on three major tours and countless festivals in Canada with Canadian superstar Johnny Reid. He also played on and did horn arrangements for the PBS special “A Place Called Love, Live in Concert” DVD/CD (2011), and the Canadian Country Music Association award-nominated, Juno award-winning, best-selling album in Canada two years in a row, “Fire it Up” (2012).
Oscar arranged “Someone to Watch Over Me” on Nashville Jazz Orchestra’s critically-acclaimed Gershwin-themed album “It Ain’t Necessarily So” (2013). 

Oscar is an active educator, working for Nordre Follo kulturskole, giving master classes on playing, arranging and freelancing at colleges and high schools. He is the current musical director of the Norwegian bigband Ski storband.  Oscar's bigband arrangements and educational books are available in the store.

Oscar started playing the the piano at the age of seven, and trombone at the age of ten. He began his musical career at the music school in Växjö, Sweden. When Oscar was twelve, he moved with his family to Belgium where he continued playing in various bands, including blues bands, concert bands and fanfare orchestras.

Oscar studied trombone and arranging at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he majored in Music Business/Management. While at Berklee, he was mentored by the likes of Phil Wilson, Hal Crook, Jeff Galindo, Tiger Okoshi, Lin Biviano, and Charles Lewis. 

After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Berklee, Oscar moved to Nashville, where he worked as a Production Assistant at The Sessions Agency on Music Row before deciding to get his Masters of Arts in Jazz Studies at Middle Tennessee State University (Summa Cum Laude, 2005). While at Middle Tennessee State University, Oscar had the privilege to play with masters such as Jim McNeely, Benny Golson, Carl Allen, and Eddie Daniels. 

Oscar is a Schilke artist and plays on ST-30, ST-31, and ST-20 trombones exclusively. He also plays AR Resonance mouthpieces and is the representative in Tennessee, Norway (joint with Lille Basun), and Sweden.