Mark Kuss is a composer who lives in Hamden, CT. His music is performed regularly in Europe, Asia and the US. Commissions from artists and organizations include works for Grammy-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, Grammy-nominated vocalist Nneenna Freelon, The New Haven Symphony, The Pro Arte Orchestra of Boston, The Polish National Radio Orchestra, The Romanian state Orchestra of Cluj and others.

In 2022 Mark’s Saxophone Concerto was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Mark tells us “the saxophone concerto was commissioned for Branford Marsalis. He and I spent time together talking about what the mood or character of the music might be and spoke in depth about which instrument he felt would best suit a large orchestra. We settled on Soprano. He has an amazing sound! I was pretty pleased that was his choice!”

In addition to his compositional work Mark is currently Chairman of the New York-based humanitarian organization Music For Life International, a presenting organization which has developed close ties with the UN, and which travels the globe modeling music as a mechanism for public diplomacy and conflict resolution.