Mike Marshall made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 20 with jazz violin legend Stephane Grappelli as a member of the David Grisman Quartet. In 1985 he would perform in that famed hall with his own classical ensemble The Modern Mandolin Quartet in 1985.
Mike has been at the forefront of New Acoustic music for over 40 years having been the founding member of many groups including the Montreux Band, Psychograss, Choro Famoso and The Anger Marshall Band. He is indeed a living compendium of musical styles and has the ability to seamlessly blend his American roots background with a deep understanding of European classical music, Brazilian choro and other world music. Mike is a fluid Jazz improviser and a master on mandolin, guitar, mandocello and violin.
Between 1999 and 2003 Mike collaborated with Joshua Bell, Edgar Meyer, Bela Fleck and Sam Bush on two separate projects. These groups toured the U.S.A. extensively and performed at the Aspen Music Festival, San Francisco Performances and Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, NY. Both ensembles were nominated for Grammy Awards for their Sony Classical releases. In 2014 Mike was nominated for his third Grammy Award for his recording with the Turtle Island Quartet.
Currently Mike is touring with German mandolin virtuoso Caterina Lichtenberg. The two have released two CDs on the Adventure Music label and have performed at the Carmel Bach Festival, The Savannah Music Festival, the Bach Haus Liepzig, Germany and the Rockygrass Bluegrass Festival in Colorado and have been soloists with the New Century Orchestra under Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Orchester l’arte del mondo from Cologne, Germany. Their most recent recording is a CD of Johann Sebastian Bach duets performed on mandocello and mandolin.
Mike’s past duet projects have included tours and CDs with mandolinists Chris Thile, violinist Darol Anger, bassist Edgar Meyer, Brazilian Mandolinist Hamilton de Holanda and pianists Jovino Santos Neto and Andy Narell. His recordings can be found on the Windham Hill, Sony Classical, Rounder, Sugar Hill and Compass labels as well his own Adventure Music label.
As a music educator Mike is committed to passing on his knowledge through a variety of channels. He currently directs the Mike Marshall School of Mandolin through the ArtistWorks on-line educational company where he is teaching hundreds of mandolinists from around the world. He has published six books on mandolin technique and has produced three video instruction DVDs.
Since 2012 Mike has been the director of the Acoustic Music Seminar at the Savannah Music Festival where he hand-selects fifteen of the brightest young acoustic music virtuosos from around the world (ages 15–22) for a week of intensive study and musical inspiration.
Between 2003 and 2015 Mike directed the Mandolin Symposium at the University of California in Santa Cruz with partner David Grisman and in 2017 he will be launching the Global Mandolin Retreats project, which will be a mandolin educational experience located in various inspiring locations around the world.
Mike splits his time currently between his home in San Francisco, CA and Wuppertal, Germany where his wife, Caterina Lichtenberg holds the position of mandolin professor at the Cologne Music Conservatory.