Marc Damoulakis

Marc Damoulakis joined The Cleveland Orchestra in August 2006 and was appointed to the principal percussion chair in 2013. He made his solo debut with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2021 performing John Corigliano’s Conjerer concerto, and in 2024 with Tan Dun’s Concerto for water percussion. “a fabulously vigorous performance”, with “the solo part being ever conveyed with profound virtuosity”. Marc is also currently Co Chair of the percussion department at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Throughout his career, Damoulakis has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and National Brass Ensemble, among others. An active chamber musician, he plays regularly with the Strings Music Festival, ChamberFest Cleveland, and as a soloist with the Sun Valley Summer Music Festival’s “In Focus” Series, where he is also the principal percussionist. He is a founding member of the Time Table Percussion Quartet. In addition, he has performed as an active freelancer in New York, including playing in the orchestra for Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

As a teacher, Damoulakis has students holding positions in major orchestras across the world and has led masterclasses and clinics throughout North America, Europe, UK, Asia, and Australia. He is committed to a biannual week-long teaching residency at the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a regular participant in the Northwestern Percussion Symposium, and a regular coach with the National Youth Orchestra. In addition, Damoulakis is the director of the Modern Snare Drum Competition hosted annually in Cleveland. As a collaborative three-year project, he also developed the K Symphonic line of cymbals with The Zildjian Cymbal company and a signature line of Tambourines with Luft percussion. These instruments are an important part of his collection with The Cleveland Orchestra.

A native of Boston, he studied with members of the BSO and he holds a bachelor’s degree in percussion performance from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied under Christopher Lamb, Duncan Patton, and James Preiss. He continued his studies for four years at The New World Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas.

Damoulakis and his wife, Samantha, currently reside in Cleveland Heights with their son George, daughter Helen, and their dog Chloe.