Mark Lortz
Band/Orchestra Director
Band, Orchestra, & Marching Band Director

Rev. 1.15.10
Program Biography: Mark Lortz

Mark Lortz has earned accolades in every facet of his music career as a composer, performer and educator.
Currently, he is band and orchestra director at Westminster high school (Westminster, Maryland), adjunct music
education professor at McDaniel College (Westminster, MD) and music arranger for the Towson University
Marching Band (Towson, MD). Under his leadership, the Westminster high school music department has received
awards from the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) and the Maryland Music Educators Association
(MMEA) for exemplary music programs. The marching band has also won titles at several Bands of America
(BOA) regional marching band competitions and the Westminster high school music department has been
selected as a national semi finalist Grammy Signature School.

Mr. Lortz earned degrees from The Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University, majoring in
percussion performance, music education and composition. Versed in all styles of music, he served as Associate
Music Director and Principal Percussionist for the North American tour of “Phantom of the Opera,” and was the
Principal Percussionist with The Dallas Brass. He has performed as timpanist and/or percussionist with such
leading ensembles as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Opera, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra
and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. He has also appeared as a guest soloist with the New York Pops
Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, the Cedar Rapids Symphony and others in concert
halls throughout the country, including Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Mr. Lortz has nearly a dozen
performance recordings to his credit, including four with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of
David Zinman.

Mr. Lortz’s original music, arrangements and transcriptions have been premiered at the prestigious Mid West
Band and Orchestra Clinic, Bands of America (BOA) National Percussion Festival, universities, music schools,
conservatories and high schools throughout the nation. He is the Front Ensemble coordinator and arranger for the
world champion Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Drum & Bugle Corps The Reading Buccaneers and has arranged
marching band music for high schools and colleges throughout the country. He is constantly in demand as a
composer, arranger, adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor and is a Marching Percussion Specialist and
Scholastic Educator for the Vic Firth Percussion Education Program. Mr. Lortz has been recognized as one of the
“50 Directors Who Make a Difference” by School Band & Orchestra magazine and has received composition
awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Contact: melortz@carrollk12.org, WHS Music Dept (410) 751-3630 x 262