Mark Grisez serves as Principal Trumpet of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. From 2014 to 2016, he served as Acting Associate Principal Trumpet of the San Francisco Symphony and in May 2015, he was named Musical America’s New Artist of the Month. He moved to Miami Beach, FL in the fall of 2016 and spent three years as a Trumpet Fellow with the New World Symphony. Mark also has held the position of Principal Trumpet of the California Symphony, played as Guest Principal Trumpet of the Louisville Orchestra, and performed with a variety of other ensembles, including The Bay Brass, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, One Found Sound, and Nomad Session, a pop-up wind octet of which he is a founding member.
One of Mark’s primary interests is expanding the role that performers play socially and interpersonally in the world. In 2018, he created The Curious Musician, 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 collaboration 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 in an effort to explore positive relationships and personal growth. He also has taught as a brass coach for 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. 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, reading too many books, and running.