Praised as an “excellent pianist” with “titanic force” (New York Times), Adam Marks (1978-2021) has been an active soloist, collaborator, curator, and educator based in NYC. He appeared as soloist with the Mission Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Symphony Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, and at notable venues including Salle Cortot, Carnegie Hall, Miller Theatre, Logan Center for the Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Millennium Park, Ravinia, and Davies Symphony Hall. In 2021, Adam performed on the Kaufman Center Storefront Concert Series at Lincoln Center. He was a laureate of the Orleans Competition for contemporary music in Orleans, France, and his premiere of Holly Harrison’s “Lobster Tales and Turtle Soup” with Eighth Blackbird won the Australian Art Music Awards Performance of the Year in 2018. Other international performances include recitals in Australia, Brazil, Singapore, France, The Netherlands, and Croatia.
In the 2019-2020 season, Marks returned to the Mission Chamber Orchestra to perform Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto, and presented Charles Ives’ Piano Sonata No. 1 and Glass/Ginsberg’s Wichita Vortex Sutra on the Jacaranda series in Santa Monica. Two exciting recordings were released in 2020: Arcana: The Complete Solo Piano Works of Alex Shapiro (Innova Records) and Ring Out: Chamber Music of Jessica Meyer (Bright Shiny Things). He can also be heard on the soundtrack for Cunningham 3D, a documentary about the work of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. During the COVID pandemic, Adam created “One Page Pieces” challenging composers and would-be composers to create original works for solo piano, providing the opportunity to exercise creativity. His performances of those pieces are posted on a dedicated YouTube channel.
As the founding co-director of Artists at Albatross Reach, an arts residency/incubator in Gualala, California, Adam helped to craft a unique collaborative process to champion the development of new multidisciplinary works and experimentation, as well as a rich environment for curious community members and local artists to explore and participate in the art-making. Recent pieces to emerge from AaAR include Thelonius Monk Award winner Jon Irabagon’s “After Talk” for mezzo-soprano, mezzo-soprano saxophone, and piano, premiered at National Sawdust in June 2018, and the Black Queen Project, a co-creation of Albatross and composer Juraj Kojs based on the life of 15th Century Queen Barbora of Celje, premiered in Miami in September 2018. Marks’ other programming ventures included serving as the first non-local curator for the San Francisco Center for New Music, presenting innovative soloists and ensembles from across the country.
Highly in demand as a collaborative musician, he has toured extensively with Eighth Blackbird, been a guest artist with Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and Fireworks Ensemble, and joined notable musicians Matt Albert, Adam Tendler, and Margaret Lancaster on stage. In 2017, he presented a devised work with renowned filmmaker Jenny Perlin for three performances at the Whitney Museum in New York City, and in 2015 he made his off-Broadway debut as an actor/musician in Fiasco Theatre’s critically acclaimed revival of Into The Woods at Roundabout Theatre. In 2019 he served as the Music Director and Pianist for the premier of Companionship, a new opera by Rachel J. Peters, presented by Fort Worth Opera.
As an educator, Adam specialized in teaching public speaking and creative presentation for musicians along with traditional performance workshops. As part of Albatross (with Jennifer Beattie), he was Artist-In-Residence with the Yale College Department of Music Composers’ Seminar since 2006. He has held faculty positions at Carthage College and NYU, and was a founding faculty member of both New Music On The Point and the Fresh Inc festival. He has given guest lectures and masterclasses at Yale, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Northwestern, Mannes, SMU, CU Boulder, The Colburn School, the LaSalle School for the Arts in Singapore, and the Zagreb Conservatory. He holds an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University, a Masters from Manhattan School of Music, and a Ph.D. in Piano Performance from New York University with research in works for vocalizing pianist. His teachers include Sara Davis Buechner, Anthony de Mare, Donn-Alexandre Feder, Evan Hirsch, and Lois Banke. Adam proudly played Yamaha pianos and Schoenhut toy pianos.
