Born in the United States, in Baltimore, Maryland, Marc Mellits has studied at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. His teachers have included Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick, Jacob Druckman, Dominic Frasca, Bernard Rands, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, Roberto Sierra, and Steven Stucky. Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying many performances throughout the United States & Canada, as well as Europe. Mellits' music is visceral, often making a deep connection with the audience. “This was music as sensual as it was intelligent; I saw audience members swaying, nodding, making little motions with their hands” (New York Press). Mellits has received many awards for his music, including, in 2004, the prestigious ‘Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award.' His unique musical style is an eclectic combination of driving rhythms, soaring lyricism, and colorful orchestrations that all combine to communicate directly with the listener. Mellits' most recent commissions include pieces for internationally acclaimed artists such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Kronos String Quartet, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Eliot Fisk, Canadian Brass, Ethel, Duke String Quartet, Nexus Percussion, Sergio and Odair Assad, Albany Symphony's Dog's Of Desire, Lelabo (Paris), Dominic Frasca, American Baroque, New Millennium Ensemble, Andrew Russo, the Society for New Music, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and the Meridian Arts Ensemble. He is also a founding member of the acclaimed Common Sense Composer's Collective, which seeks new and alternative ways of collaborating with performance ensembles. Mellits is the artistic director and keyboard player in his own unique ensemble, the Mellits Consort. On CD, Mellits' music can be found on Black Box, Endeavour Classics, Cantaloupe, CRI/Emergency Music, Santa Fe New Music, & Dacia Music. Marc Mellits lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters, and spends significant time in Romania.


Alternative Bio:

Marc Mellits was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1966. He was already composing music for the piano before he started formal piano lessons at the age of 6. He went on to study at the Eastman School of Music, Yale School of Music, Cornell University, and Tanglewood. His composition teachers have included Samuel Adler, Martin Bresnick, Dominic Frasca, Bernard Rands, Christopher Rouse, Joseph Schwantner, Roberto Sierra, and Steven Stucky, yet one hears other influences in Mellits' music. The sound worlds of Steve Reich (whom Mellits has been working as an apprentice since 1990) and Philip Glass resonate inside of Mellits, not to mention the rock and funk music from his childhood in the 1970's. Marc Mellits' voice began to emerge in the early 1990's with works like Aggravated Assault - an explosive work for 2 pianos written during the first Gulf War - Polysorbate 60 and Spam. His piano trio, Fruity Pebbles, established Mellits' reputation as ‘the witty post-minimalist'. Like many of the post-minimalist composers, Mellits has found a way to use minimalist techniques without relying on them entirely. He is a miniaturist, composing works that are comprised of short, contrasting movements. His music is eclectic, all-encompassing, open to reflecting whatever enters his life and mind during the period of creation. He writes music that is accessible and that communicates directly with the listener. The turn of the present century sees Mellits in full stride, receiving major commissions from the Kronos String Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Sergio and Odair Assad, Bang On A Can All-Stars, Eliot Fisk, Canadian Brass, Nexus Percussion, Albany Symphony's Dog's Of Desire, and guitarist Dominic Frasca. Music born from Mellits' collaborations with Frasca, like Five Chanukkah Etudes for the Frascas and Blue, have been known to completely change what one used to assume an acoustic guitar is capable of. Mellits' has won numerous awards for his music, including the prestigious 2004 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Award. He is also a founding member of the acclaimed Common Sense Composer's Collective, which seeks new and alternative ways of collaborating with performance ensembles. In addition to his activities as a composer, Marc Mellits directs and plays keyboards in his own unique ensemble, the Mellits Consort. On CD, Mellits' music can be found on Black Box, Endeavour Classics, Cantaloupe, CRI/Emergency Music, Santa Fe New Music, & Dacia Music. Marc Mellits lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters, and spends significant time in Romania.

-Andrew Russo