marc perez is a west coast based composer, performer, improviser, author, curator and organization leader whose work is concerned with freedom of agency, interdisciplinary arts & improvisation.
As a performer, marc has performed and collaborated with a wide array of improvisers across the US, including Devin Daniels, Andrew Weathers, Vinny Golia, William Roper, Matt Crane, Dan Clucas, Lucy Liu, The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, You, Me & The Whales, Angel Lin & Steve Blum & Corey Fogel. marc has performed at various festivals such as High Desert Soundings, Some Things From Nothing Ad-hoc Improv Festival & Angel City Jazz Festival.
marc has a multitude of ongoing groups he has created, including a brass trio (The Lip-Reeds), a improv quartet (Filler Words) & and a large jazz ensemble (The Tapestry).
As a composer, his compositions span solo, chamber ensemble, and acousmatic formats, incorporating a wide range of acoustic instrumentation combined with open/varying settings & form. Marc is often inspired by non traditional music notation, minimalism, as well as experimentation involving the spaces where his works are performed, creating the unapologetically true to self sounds he music is associated with. marc’s work has been played across the US, in community spaces as well as university settings; as well as internationally in Korea, Thailand & the UK.
marc is also one of the recipients for the 2025 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Awards.
marc is a heavy practitioner of text in combination with music, often creating text scores, poems, installations & art relating to both sound and text.
Along with curating shows/events throughout the typical year, marc is the cofounder and co-director of SuddenSomethings, an organization dedicated to the proliferation of activities, knowledge, research, and communal practices in improvisation across disciplines and non-disciplines.
This includes
Curating and hosting benefit concerts to support artists in our community affected by drastic life changes (such as the 2025 LA fires)
Hosting a bi-annual, bi-coastal ad hoc festival, Some Things From Nothing, with improvised logistics and performance formats for 20+ improvisers.
Running an annual two-week Improvisation Investigation Residency for interdisciplinary, disciplinary, and non-disciplinary practitioners of improvisation - TBD
Providing access to resources and media on improvisation in critical (research, texts, documentaries) and entertainment (music, movies, magazines, alt. media) contexts.
marc received his BA in Global Jazz Studies at UCLA, his MFA in Performance & Composition at California Institute of the Arts & is currently pursuing his DMA in Music Composition at UCSC. His teachers & mentors include various influential composers & performers such as Luciana Souza, Arturo O’Farrill, Johnathan Pinson, Jon Hatamiya, Vardan Ovespian, David Rosenboom, Vinny Golia, Tim Feeney, Carolyn Chen & Mattie Barbier.