Biography

Mark Hyams is an experienced and seasoned classical trumpeter, who has performed with orchestras and various musical ensembles all over the world. Hailed as “brilliant” by the Albuquerque Journal for his performance of Handel’s Messiah, with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, his playing has taken him to the stage of the Santa Fe Opera, the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and to Carnegie Hall.

Mark joined the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in January 2004, after winning the audition for the job in August 2003. Mark’s duties with the NMSO included playing with the Symphony’s Brass Quintet, with whom he performed many recitals, and also serving as Principal Trumpet with the full orchestra on occasion as needed. While living in New Mexico Mark performed with many groups, including four summers with the Santa Fe Opera, serving as Guest Principal with the Santa Fe Symphony, with the contemporary music group Chatter, and for the weekly Sunday morning concert series called Church of Beethoven.

In the fall of 2006, Mark began a relationship with the Saint Louis Symphony, after being runner-up for a position in the their trumpet section. Since then, he has performed with the orchestra regularly, including a performance of Messiaen’s Turangalila-Symphonie at Carnegie Hall, and performing on their spring 2010 tour of California.

From 2002 to 2009, Mark held the position of Principal Trumpet of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and prior to this position, he was Third Trumpet for six years, beginning during his senior year at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1997 he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Trumpet Performance. In 1999 Mark took a one-year leave of absence from the BPO to study trumpet with Barbara Butler and Charles Geyer at Northwestern University, where he received his Master of Music degree in Trumpet Performance in 2000.

While actively free-lancing in the Denver-Boulder area, he frequently performed with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and can be heard on several recordings with the group, including Michael Daugherty’s UFO with percussionist Evelyn Glennie, and a recording of Mark O’Connor’s music. During that same time, Mark was a member of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, a chamber group that accompanies silent films, with which he can be heard on several soundtracks. Also, he performed with the Boulder Brass, Symphonia of Colorado, Denver Municipal Band, and Colorado Mahlerfest.

In the fall of 2008, music took Mark to the opposite side of the earth, where, for a three-month period, he served as Second Trumpet for the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, performing at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas, at the base of the famous Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.