About Me
Originally from Fresno, CA, Mark Grisez serves as Principal Trumpet of the Columbus Symphony. From 2014 to 2016, he served as Acting Associate Principal Trumpet of the San Francisco Symphony. Mark has also held the position of Principal Trumpet of the California Symphony and played as a guest with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Dallas Brass, The Bay Brass, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, One Found Sound, and Nomad Session.
Mark created The Curious Musician in 2018, an online video series for musicians to share thoughts on musicianship, creativity, practice, and personal growth. In 2019, he and a team of New World Symphony Fellows designed, programmed, and performed Double Take: The Human Effect, a concert experience exploring the ways in which art helps make sense of a turbulent world. That same year, Mark started a project in which New World Symphony musicians made weekly visits to a South Florida juvenile justice organization, playing and writing music together with small groups of court-involved high school students to explore positive relationships and personal growth together. He has also taught as a brass coach for the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestras, Bravo Waukegan, the Stanford Youth Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, New World Symphony’s MusicLab program, and Iberacademy in Medellín, Colombia.
Mark received his bachelor’s degree in music performance in 2015 from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied under David Burkhart and Mark Inouye, and in May 2015 he was recognized as Musical America’s New Artist of the Month. He spent three years as a Trumpet Fellow with the New World Symphony, and he also studied with Charles Geyer and Barbara Butler at Rice University from 2019 to 2020.
In his spare time, he enjoys writing, curating a collection of fine pencils, and reading too many books at the same time.