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Mark Lortz
Mark Lortz
is band and orchestra director at Westminster High School (Westminster,
Maryland), where he directs the Orchestra, Concert and Marching Bands,
Percussion Ensemble, Colorguard and Electronic & Computer Music Program. His
ensembles have earned superior ratings on local, regional, and national levels.
Under his leadership, the Westminster High School Marching Band is the only
band from Maryland to have won a Bands of America (BOA) Regional
Competition (2003) and the Tournament of Bands (TOB) Group 4 Atlantic
Coast Championships (2002). The Westminster High School Music Department was
awarded the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and the Maryland
Music Educators Association (MMEA) award for Exemplary Music Program
in 2003. In 2002, Mr. Lortz was nominated as the Outstanding Teacher of the
Year for Carroll County Public Schools. For the past four years, he has been
the Festival Coordinator for Carroll County Public Schools where he has been
responsible for the coordination and management of the All County Bands,
Orchestras and District Festival adjudication logistics.
Mr. Lortz earned degrees from The Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns
Hopkins University, majoring in percussion performance, music education and
composition. He performs regularly with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as a
percussionist/timpanist and can be heard on numerous recordings conducted by
Maestro David Zinman. He was principal percussionist with the Yamaha®
Performing Ensemble, The Dallas Brass, where he performed as a soloist
with the New York Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; the Kennedy Center;
performed with numerous orchestras in concert halls throughout the United
States; and made several recordings with the group. He has performed with the
Baltimore Chamber Symphony, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Baltimore
Opera, the Gettysburg Symphony, and for various concert and theatrical
productions in the metropolitan Baltimore and Washington areas. Mr. Lortz
toured North America as the associate conductor and principal percussionist
with the touring production of The Phantom of the Opera. He has
performed with and instructed the Drum Corps International (DCI) Cadets of
Bergen County Drum and Bugle Corps, and he has been associated with
the group’s success in winning the coveted Drum Corps International
Championships and the high percussion award.
As an arranger/composer, he is the Front Ensemble coordinator and arranger for
the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Drum & Bugle Corps The Reading Buccaneers.
He has arranged marching band music for high schools and colleges throughout
the country. His concert band and orchestra compositions can be heard in
various local performing ensembles. He was the Percussion Caption Head for the
United States Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps, winning the Inter-service
Academy Drum & Bugle Corps Championship and high percussion award. An
active adjudicator and clinician in the mid-Atlantic region, Mr. Lortz is a
member of National Association of Music Education (MENC), Maryland Band
Directors Association (MBDA), Maryland Orchestra Director’s Association
(MODA), American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and is a Marching Percussion
Specialist and Scholastic Educator for the Vic Firth Percussion Education
Program.
Contact: melortz@k12.carr.org,
WHS Music Dept (410) 751-3630 x 262
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