Marshall Marcus

EUYO Executive & Artistic Director Marshall Marcus is also CEO of the International Youth Foundation of GB, Founder and President of Sistema Europe, and a Europe 101 Leadership Programme ambassador. Current advisory positions include the National Orchestra For All (NOFA), The Nucleo, the Honorary Council of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the Advisory Council of the European Heritage Hub.

Before joining EUYO, Marshall was Head of Music at London's Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall (2006-2011), and Co-founder, then Chairman and CEO of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (1985-2006). He lead Southbank Centre’s International Sistema Research Programme, was a member of Sistema Global's Advisory Board, worked with the British Council to develop new international youth orchestra networks, and was a member of the British Council's Arts and Creative Economy Advisory group (2012-2018).   In 2014 Marshall created the European Music Campus and was the driving force behind Towards 2020, a Creative Europe programme designed to help equip young EU musicians with the skills they need to face 21st century challenges. Marshall's current work focuses on the ways in which cultural activity can help societal developments, seeing culture as one of our best 'engines' for global exchange, learning and development. He is also particularly interested in ways for us to join together in society to become more sustainable in our work and daily lives, and in 2022 was General Editor of the European Commission's Voices of Culture brainstorming report 'Culture and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: Challenges & Opportunities'.

During 2023 Marshall's speaking engagements include with the Global Leaders Institute, the Belgrade Heritage Forum ‘Rethink Reuse Refuse’, the World Human Forum’s 2nd Delos Global Gathering, El Sistema’s 2023 Global Summit, and the Venice European Cultural Heritage Summit. In past years he has taught and/or lectured in Abu Dhabi, Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela, the UK and the USA. Marshall has advised and tutored in organisations including the Fundación Musical Simón Bolívar (Venezuela), the Eastern Partnership ‘I, Culture’ Orchestra (composed of musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Poland and Ukraine), and the Neojiba Project (Brazil). He also created and directs SERA, the online global Sistema Evaluation and Research Archive.

Marshall's board, jury and advisory work has included The Royal Philharmonic Society, The Association of British Orchestras, The British Association of Concert Halls, Kings Place Music Foundation, Sphinx UK, BBC Musician of the Year, and The Leverhulme Trust. He is an Associate of the Royal College of Music London, a member of the Honorary Council of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and an Honorary Fellow of the Musician’s Company.

Before entering the world of music programming and management, Marshall enjoyed a 25-year career as an orchestral, solo and chamber violinist, recording and performing in more than 60 countries. He was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, then became Concert Master of the Orquesta Filarmonica de Caracas, Professor with the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, a Principal player with Amsterdam Baroque, Leader of the Orchestra of St. John’s Smith Square, and a player member and Executive Director of Endymion Ensemble. Marshall worked regularly with artists such as Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Roger Norrington, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Abbado, Mariss Jansons, Gustavo Dudamel, Mitsuko Uchida, Maurizio Pollini, Lang Lang, and Cecilia Bartoli, and in an eclectic playing career, collaborated as a performer with musicians as varied as the Moscow Soloists, Baaba Maal, and The Michael Nyman Band.

Marshall's recordings include the Rossini String Sonatas with Chi-Chi Nwanoku, Richard Tunnicliffe and Elizabeth Wallfisch, Globokar’s string quartet Discours VI with Domus, the complete Beethoven symphonies with Sir Roger Norrington, complete Bach Cantatas with Ton Koopman, complete Haydn Symphonies with Christopher Hogwood, and numerous film scores.

Marshall read Philosophy and Experimental Psychology at The Queen’s College Oxford University, and postgraduate English Education studies at Trinity College Cambridge University. His violin teachers included principally Michael Vyner, Eta Cohen and Frederick Grinke.