“Matt Marks, a composer and musician who was at the epicenter of a diverse community of open-minded artists as a founding member of the contemporary chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound, died on Friday in St. Louis,” writes Steve Smith in Wednesday’s (5/16) New York Times. “He was 38. The cause was heart failure, said Mary Kouyoumdjian, a composer and Mr. Marks’s fiancée. Mr. Marks, who lived in Brooklyn, had just performed in St. Louis with Alarm Will Sound…. As a performer, Mr. Marks was known best as a French horn player for Alarm Will Sound…. He also contributed one of the group’s signature pieces: an eerily accurate arrangement for live performers of [the Beatles’] ‘Revolution 9.’ … Mr. Marks was among the founding organizers of New Music Gathering, a festival and conference.… Matthew Colin Marks was born on Jan. 23, 1980, in Downey, Calif. … Mr. Marks pursued his formal education at the Eastman School of Music … the Royal Academy of Music … and Stony Brook University…. Mr. Marks performed [with] the International Contemporary Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra, the Argento Chamber Ensemble and the Brooklyn Brass Quintet. He was … a soloist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s 2013 presentation of Frank Zappa’s ‘200 Motels.’ ”
Posted May 16, 2018
