Mark Tipton is a Boston-based jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator who has also lived and worked in New York City, Los Angeles, and Portland, Maine. Mark serves as Assistant Chair of Jazz Studies at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree. He is an in-demand freelance jazz trumpeter and session musician on the East Coast, and he has premiered his compositions throughout the US. His recent albums include Vernacular Stretch (premiered in 2025 in Brooklyn) and Nosferatu Funk (currently in post-production). Mark is a Faculty member at Samba Meets Jazz, working with Artistic Director Nilson Matta each summer in Bar Harbor, Maine. He is also a voting member of the Recording Academy.
Mark has recently performed and/or recorded with Rafael Barata, Jerry Bergonzi, Eguie Castrillo, Allan Chase, Edmar Colón, Diego Figueiredo, Edsel Gomez, Dave Holland, Joe Hunt, Ayn Inserto, Brian Lynch, Nilson Matta, Jason Moran, New England Jazz Collaborative, Chico Pinheiro, Ada Rovatti, Antonio Sanchez, Bert Seager, Tom Varner, and Anna Webber. He has recently toured Turkey, Cypress, and the Northeastern US with Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, and has performed at many venues throughout the US, including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, Dizzy’s, Highline Ballroom, Joe’s Pub, the Korean Cultural Center, NuBlu, Soapbox Gallery, and Symphony Space (NYC), The Regattabar, Jordan Hall, Harvard Memorial Chapel, and The Lilypad (Boston, MA), the Beverly Hills Civic Center, California Plaza Watercourt, Getty Center, Hotel Café, Royce Hall, and World Stage (Los Angeles, CA), Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall (Princeton, NJ), Sharp 9 Gallery (Durham, NC), and at venues throughout Europe. Mark holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (BM) and Mannes College at New School University (MM). Mark is also an alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy and the Henry Mancini Institute (at UCLA). Mark founded and leads several ensembles, including the progressive jazz group Nondualism Trio, the Mark Tipton Quartet and Octet, and the multi-genre ensemble Les Sorciers Perdus, which specializes in performing Mark’s numerous original silent film scores. He is currently composing works for the newly-founded Mark Tipton Jazz Orchestra.
Mark has studied privately with Jason Palmer, Jerry Bergonzi, John McNeil, Billy Hart, Joe Morris, Ken Schaphorst, Vincent Penzarella, Ryan Anthony, Jack Sutte, and Roy Poper. His original works include jazz compositions, contemporary chamber works, dance pieces, orchestral works, multi-disciplinary installations, silent film scores, and songs. Mark has previously taught at Bowdoin College, Colby College, the University of Maine, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and the Portland Conservatory of Music, where he also served as Executive Director.