Todd Marcus Quintet Featuring Virginia MacDonald

Sunday, September 21, 2025, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Sydnor Performance Hall, University of Lynchburg Schewel Hall, a jazz concert presented by Amherst Glebe Arts Response (AGAR) in collaboration with the Lynchburg Arts Consortium of the University of Lynchburg. Todd Marcus, bass clarinetist; Virginia MacDonald, clarinetist; Tim Brey, piano; Blake Meister, bass, Eric Kennedy, drums.

Tickets: Free to University of Lynchburg (UL) affiliated students, faculty, staff, & alumni (donations appreciated); Free VCA-VDH WIC Passport tickets; $20 Non-UL affiliated adults; $10 Non-UL affiliated students. Pay at door: cash or checks only; doors open 45 minutes prior to performance.

More info: www.amherstglebeartsresponse.org/

Since 2022 Baltimore bass clarinetist Todd Marcus and Toronto clarinetist Virginia MacDonald have been performing and touring together across the United States and Canada with their quintet. Their work together presents a lush ensemble that showcases the range of beauty and power by the clarinet in a moden jazz context, with repertoire comprised of original compositions by both bandleaders.

They have performed at jazz festivals and prominent venues internationally including Smalls Jazz Club, the Toronto Jazz Festival, the International Clarinet Association and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Baltimore bass clarinetist, composer, and arranger Todd Marcus is one of the few jazz artists worldwide to focus exclusively on use of the bass clarinet as a solo instrument. While most uses of bass clarinet in jazz typically lean towards avant-garde and free-music styles, Marcus’ playing presents the instrument with a modern straight-ahead jazz approach. His music swings hard with both fiery and introspective intensity but also maintains a strong lyrical sensibility. Marcus has presented music for 15 years and along the way received accolades including a Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association in 2017, an NPR pick for one of the top 10 jazz albums of 2012, and a JazzTimes pick for one of the top 40 albums of 2015. Born and raised in the northern New Jersey suburbs of New York City, the half-Egyptian Marcus began music at age six with early piano lessons and picked up clarinet at age 10. He moved to Baltimore to attend Loyola College.

The Todd Marcus Quintet performance is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.