Marques Young began his musical studies at age twelve on the euphonium under the direction of Gordon Manley. At sixteen, he developed a curiosity for the trombone and began playing in church and the school jazz band. Marques continued his musical development in the Arkansas Tech University School of Music, under the tutelage of Dr. Will Kimball. During his studies there, he received numerous awards and honours, including an invitation to the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Solo Competition, where he was awarded first runner-up.
As his thirst for knowledge continued to grow, Marques would further his studies at the renowned Juilliard School under Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic. There, Marques found continued success in solo competitions. At age twenty one, he won the Frank Smith International Trombone Solo competition, The Eastern Trombone Solo Competition and The International Trombone Association’s Van Haney Orchestral Solo Competition at age twenty two. He was also a member of the award winning Trombone Ensemble “Dease Bones” and The Lions head Brass Quintet. During his time as an undergraduate, Marques was invited to perform with the American Brass Quintet, Buffalo Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Arkansas Symphony, Charleston Symphony, The New Juilliard Ensemble, Malaysian Philharmonic and The Lucern Festival Academy Orchestra under the baton of the great Pierre Boulez.
Marques would continue his musical development in the Juilliard Jazz Studies Master’s Program. There, he received private instruction under Wycliffe Gordon, Steve Turre, Ron Blake, and Carl Allen. This path lead him down an extensive career of performing with great artists such as Benny Golson, Paquito D’Rivera, Wynton Marsalis, Randy Brecker, Terri Lyne Carrington, Gil Goldstein, Billy Cobham, Eddie Henderson, James Morrison, Marvin Stamm, Buster Williams, Chris Botti, Victor Lewis, Gerald Wilson, Sheila Majid, Siti Nur Haliza, Andrea Bocelli, Victor Goines, Maria Schneider, Lew Soloff, Lalah Hathaway, The Clark Sisters, Milo Z and Elan Lanier.
While completing his Master’s degree, Marques was appointed to the Co-Principal Trombone chair of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) in Kuala Lumpur. He then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to work with the orchestra full time. While working with the MPO, he created Q Sound and joined the Bassment Syndicate. Through these ensembles, Marques made profound contributions to the development of the growing jazz culture in Southeast Asia including sold-out performances at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas as part of DFP’s Happy Hour Series, Future Music Festival Asia, Mosaic Music Festival, Singapore Jazz Festival, Kuala Lumpur Jazz Festival, KL Seni Fest and The 1000 Bands Festival in Indonesia. He would also go on to release two albums with Bassment Syndicate, Morning and 25hrs.
Though Marques would eventually part ways with Bassment Syndicate, he would later form two new bands shortly after called the Lawrence Wright Jazz Ensemble (an experimental EDM jazz project) and Q Sound & 2nd Line (a brass band with an RnB/Hip Hop twist) . With the help of his previous management, MTalentAsia, all of his bands would maintain a steady flow performance appearances around the region and abroad in festivals such as Kuching Waterfront Jazz Festival, Kota Kinabalu Jazz Festival, Urbanscapes Arts Festival, Publika Jazz Festival, Iskarnival, Borneo Jazz Festival and Iskandar Jazz Fest.
In 2016, Marques released his debut as a solo artist under the name, Q Sound titled Duel Citizenship. This album featured an all star cast of musicians from all over the world engineered by Paul Morrison of Maveriq Studios and Alex Tan of Starmount Studios. The album would go on to be nominated for two Anugerah Industry Muzik awards, often referred to as the Malaysian Grammys.
In 2018, Marques joined the Trombone Faculty at the Yong Siew Toh Music Conservatory in Singapore and was promoted to Section Principal Trombone of the MPO. In addition to his performances with the orchestra, Marques continues to maintain a busy schedule teaching, producing music for artist, performing as a Trombone soloist and clinician, as well as composing and arranging for a variety of ensembles.
Marques is a Thein Brass Artist, Willie’s Custom Mouthpiece Artist, and MVQ Artist.
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National University of Singapore
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