Taking It From the Top

Musical Brothers Return to Play Where They Started

By Kameel Stanley

Thursday, August 21, 2008

David Marks and his four brothers grew up incubated by Loudoun County's small classical music community. Their father, Tom Marks, was a noted violinist and founding member of the Loudoun Symphony, and he transmitted his passion for music to each of them.

The five sons, all accomplished string players, moved to a much bigger stage as they studied and toured in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Now they have organized a homecoming. The Marks brothers — Jethro, Theo, David, Vincent and Paolo — will perform concerts in Leesburg tonight and in Waterford Aug. 29, and they hope the summer reunion becomes an annual tradition. The concerts take place five years after their father died in a car crash near Leesburg.

"I think we kind of feel that the responsibility has been passed onto our shoulders," said David Marks, 29, the middle son.

Their aim is not only to reconnect with the community where they grew up but also to expose more people to classical music, the brothers said.

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The musical remarks

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The Marks brothers, whose father was a fouder of the Loudoun Symphony, will perform concerts at the Waterfod musical festival with some of their significant others. (Katherine Frey)

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Calling themselves the "musical remarks," the Marks brothers - Theo, Vincent, Paolo, David and Jethro - with some of their significant others will perform concerts at the Waterford musical festival. (Katherine Frey)

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Anouk Marks, 2, watches the Marks brothers play with some of their significant others - Emily Honeyman, Vincent Marks, Erica Lipps, Paolo Marks, Emily Smethurst, Jethro Marks, Fanny Marks, David Marks, Mintje van Lier and Theo Mark. Calling themselves the "musical remarks" they will perform concerts at the Waterford musical festival. (Katherine Frey)

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Calling themselves the "musical remarks," the Marks brothers with some of their significant others will perform concerts at the Waterford musical festival. In front is Anouk Marks, 2, and Emily Honeyman, Vincent Marks, Erica Lipps, Paolo Marks, Emily Smethurst, Jethro Marks, Fanny Marks, David Marks, Mintje van Lier and Theo Marks. (Katherine Frey)

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"There's so little of a classical music culture in the county," David Marks said. "It hardly feels like we're part of the community anymore."

The brothers have traveled widely since leaving Loudoun. Jethro, 33, plays viola with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottowa. Paolo, 32, a cellist, is an instrument maker in West Virginia. David, who plays violin and viola, is a freelance musician in Amsterdam; cellist Theo, 26, has just finished luthier studies in Parma, Italy; and Vincent, 21, is studying viola performance at Indiana University.

Today's concert is at 7:30 p.m. at St. James' Episcopal Church in Leesburg. Tickets are $15 at the door, and the proceeds will benefit the performers and the St. James' Organ Fund.

The free Aug. 29 concert, at 7 p.m. at John Wesley Church, is a bonus to this year's Waterford Concert Series. It will feature the brothers and several of their musician friends and will be followed by a potluck celebration at Waterford's Old Mill.

The brothers said that if the concerts are well received, they hope to return each summer, along with other visiting musicians, as part of a yearly arts festival. They envision a festival that would include all kinds of artists, visual as well as performing, and that would become a fixture on the county's entertainment calendar.

"It would be so healthy, just to give a sense of community," Theo Marks said.

Looking at how rapidly Loudoun has grown, they see an opportunity to spread their love of the arts to a wide audience.

"People are becoming isolated these days," David Marks said. "Art would be a great way to make those connections."

Michael Rohrer, executive director and principal bass player of the Loudoun Symphony, said he wasn't surprised by the Markses' return.

"It's a very special family," he said. "It's a very, very close family. They do everything together."

Rohrer, a longtime friend of Tom Marks's, said he remembers well how the boys, one by one, became old enough and talented enough to play with the Loudoun Symphony. Most of them did so before they graduated from high school.

The family became known to some of their friends as the "von Trapps of Loudoun County."

Classical music and Loudoun haven't always mixed easily, Rohrer said, and the Marks family has been integral to efforts to change that. It's encouraging to have the brothers back in town and promoting the arts, he said.

"I would be surprised if they didn't," he added.

The brothers said they had thought about launching a summer concert series before but didn't take steps to do so until a few months ago.

But their dedication to the community hasn't waned since their father's death, said Eleanor Adams, a volunteer with the Waterford Foundation.

Adams, who first heard the brothers play many years ago at a garden party, said she didn't really get to know them until a couple of summers ago. Her granddaughter, then 10, had written a story during summer camp. The story became the basis for a puppet show, and the Marks brothers volunteered to write music for it and perform it.

"They're so talented. This is wonderful," Adams said of the concerts.

Tagged: entertainment, Loudoun Symphony, music, Waterford

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