About

Ethan Marks is an LA-based trumpeter and performance artist reshaping the role of the instrumentalist in live music-making, transforming the performer into sculpture and installation piece. Emphasis and attention are placed on the physical gesture and the collision between body and the instrument as interface. Much of the sounds he is interested are similarly physical, subtle, and often overlooked. His work is usually improvised, is sometimes silly, and has involved feedback, video, noise, household objects, and power tools, often in combination with the trumpet. He hopes to challenge the audience to listen deeply so that they may take that enhanced perception out of the performance and experience the world differently.

Marks is active in the LA experimental music scene, and he often collaborates with Erin Demastes, Tom Sturm, David Aguila, Amy Golden, Eric Heep, the Carillon trumpet quartet, and WasteLAnd music. He has performed at Coaxial, the Mortuary, rec center, Betalevel, Art Share L.A., Highways Performance Space, and Santa Monica Public Library.

In addition to his work in LA, Marks has presented internationally at the Darmstadt Fereinkurse für Neue Musik and the International Society for Improvised Music 2016 Conference in Guelph, Canada. Marks holds degrees in trumpet performance from California Institute of the Arts (MFA 2017) and The University of Texas at Austin (BM 2013).

Marks also serves as Program Manager for Events at Art Share L.A., a nonprofit performance/gallery/live/work space in the LA Arts District.