Marco Blaauw

Born in 1965 in Lichtenvoorde. For more than 30 years, Marco Blaauw has been performing as a trumpet soloist specializing in contemporary music. As a soloist and as a member of Ensemble Musikfabrik, he has been at the forefront of innovations in music, always researching and developing his instruments and playing techniques, working on new repertoire and adventurous performing formats in close collaboration with established and young composers.

Engagements have taken him around the world, where he has performed as a soloist with major orchestras and ensembles. His work has been featured at prominent theater and music festivals and is documented on six solo records and countless radio, CD, and video recordings. In addition to his performance work, Blaauw is active in many other fields, including as a curator, dedicated educator, composer, producer and researcher.

Blaauw initiated and leads The Monochrome Project, an 8-player trumpet ensemble that experiments with long formats to deepen the experience of listening and merging into sound. In 2016, he started his research project, “Global Breath”, taking his passion for the trumpet to new realms of knowledge and performance. His research reflects the shared human connection in the sound of the trumpet.

From 2026 on, Blaauw will be artistic director of the Tyrolean festival for new music Klangspuren Schwaz. Blaauw’s work has received awards such as the Polish Orpheus Prize, the Karel de Grote Oeuvreprijs of the city of Nijmegen, the Karl Sczuka Prize of the SWR, and most recently, the Palma Ars Acustica of the EBU. Grants from the Ernst von Siemens Foundation, Musikfonds, Ministry of Culture and Science NRW, Societé Gavigniés and the Art Foundation of NRW have supported his work.

Since 2014, Marco Blaauw is trumpet tutor of the Darmstadt Summer Course, since 2016 additionally head of the Brass studio.