BIOGRAPHY
Mark A. Russo is a freelance jazz trumpet player and educator in the greater Cleveland area. He holds degrees in Music Performance in Jazz Studies from Bowling Green State University and in Music Education from Kent State University (Magna Cum Laude) and is seasoned educator and clinician in the Greater Cleveland and Akron area.
As an educator, Mr. Russo is the founding member of THE JAZZ INITIATIVE, which is an ensemble dedicated to the advocacy of jazz education in the Greater Cleveland/Akron area. In addition, He has been an adjudicator and Guest Artist for numerous local high school and college Jazz Festivals and has written articles on improvisation, big band, and the Jazz Idiom for the Ohio Music Educator Association’s (OMEA) quarterly publication of TRIAD. He has also presented numerous Jazz Education seminars at OMEA’s yearly professional development conference.
As a performer, he has worked for Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and has performed extensively with such local groups as The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Ernie Krivda’s Fat Tuesday Big Band, Bobby Selvaggio's 11 Piece Collective, The AVENUE from Cleveland Music Group (CMG), The Skatch Anderssen Orchestra, The Dave Banks Big Band, The Don Kubec Big Band and has shared the stage with such artists as Ken Peplowski, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Carl Allen, Ingrid Jensen, John Bailey, Marvin Stamm, Allen Vizzutti, Randy Johnston, Wayne Bergeron, and Mike Lee. He has also recorded albums as a sideman with the likes of Bobby Selvaggio, Kevin Scaley, Jeremey Poparad and Lou Armagno to name a few as well as his own as a leader, entitled NEW AFFIRMATION which received a 4.5 star review at Allaboutjazz.com
Mr. Russo is a Thane Performance Trumpets, Greg Black mouthpieces, Torpedo Bags supported artist. He is an active member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN) and The Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), serving as the Jazz Editor of OMEA’s TRIAD magazine. Mr. Russo is also the former Jazz Education Connection of Ohio (JECO) appointed Secretary, board member and representative for the Northeast Ohio area.