Marc Vallon is the Professor of Music, Bassoon, at the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a position he has held since 2004. A native of France, he received his musical education on the French basson at the Paris Conservatoire National Supérieur with Maurice Allard. “Enfant prodige”, he began playing professionally at the age of 17, and had the privilege of performing with the top Parisian orchestras under legendary conductors such as Sergiu Celibidache, Leonard Bernstein, Seiji Ozawa, and Karl Boehm. After switching to the German bassoon in the early 80’s, his interests lead him to work with contemporary music groups that culminated in the 1980s in a 5-year period of collaboration with Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain.
Marc’s early music career began in 1982 when he joined the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, where he was principal bassoon for 20 years. Marc was also principal bassoon of Philippe Herrewheghe’s “Orchestre des Champs Elysées” for 12 years and has participated in concerts worldwide with early music leading ensembles like Tafelmusik, La Petite Bande, Les Arts Florissants and Concerto Köln. His experience on period instruments ranges from Monteverdi’s “Vespers” (1610) to Debussy’s “Afternoon of a Fawn” (1894).
Marc’s current performing activities include his participation to the Wingra Quintet, ensemble in residence at the UW-Madison School of Music, work with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and recitals mostly dedicated to new music and commissions to composers. On early bassoons, he performs mostly with Apollo’s Fire in Cleveland and Opera Lafayette in DC.