The UMKC Conservatory is pleased to note that Marcus Lewis, currently Assistant Teaching Professor of Jazz Studies, will join the Conservatory as Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies, Fall 2022.
Marcus holds a BM in jazz performance from Valdosta State University and an MM in trombone performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Marcus leads his own quintet and 18-piece big band, and his latest project, “Brass and Boujee,” debuted on the iTunes Jazz Charts at #2 and the Billboard contemporary jazz charts at #15.
Marcus has a passion for education and is the Founder and Artistic Director of Future Jazz, a nonprofit dedicated to jazz education. Marcus has performed at venues including the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Klaipeda Jazz Festival in 2003, and the Jimmy Carter Summer Concert Series in 2008. As a sideman, he has also performed at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest, the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert and the 2012 North Sea Jazz Festival, the Sydney Opera House, and for President Barack Obama at the White House in 2011 and 2012.
Television shows include SNL, David Letterman, The Today Show, Jools Holland, Arsenio Hall, and American Idol. Marcus was awarded the 2008 Betty Carter Jazz Residency and the 2003 Outstanding Soloist award at the Wichita Jazz Festival, and won the Charlotte Street Generative Artist Award in 2018. Some notable artists that Marcus has performed and/or recorded with include Aretha Franklin, Prince, Janelle Monáe, Bruno Mars, B.o.B, Jidenna, Musiqsoulchild, Avery Sunshine, The Barkays, Confunkshun, Quincy Jones and Sugarfoot’s Ohio Players. In addition to an active touring and recording schedule, Marcus stays busy writing, arranging, teaching and leading clinics and master classes worldwide.
For more information about Marcus, visit his website
Congratulations!