Mark Lortz is the Director of Music at Stevenson University, where he oversees the music department and directs the university’s bands. An accomplished composer, arranger, and educator, he serves as a music editor for RWS Music Company and brass arranger for the multi-world champion Reading Buccaneers Drum and Bugle Corps.

His compositions have been premiered internationally and featured at The Midwest Clinic, the Bands of America National Percussion Festival, the College Band Directors National Association, and the Baltimore Ravens Marching Band. Recognized by ASCAP for annual composition awards, his works have been praised in Gramophone and The Instrumentalist and selected for Bandworld’s Top 100 and J.W. Pepper’s Editor’s Choice lists. He has also arranged music, rehearsed, and conducted the U.S. Army Field Band, Jazz Ambassadors, and U.S. Naval Academy Drum and Bugle Corps. A sought-after adjudicator, lecturer, and conductor, Dr. Lortz works with honor bands, orchestras, and community ensembles and presents at conferences nationwide. He has presented clinics and performed at The Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference and numerous state and regional conferences. In recognition of his exceptional contributions to music education, the Maryland Music Educators Association honored him as an Outstanding Educator in 2024.

Dr. Lortz holds a Ph.D. in Music Education from Temple University and degrees in percussion performance, composition, and education from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. His performance career includes serving as Associate Music Director and Percussionist for Phantom of the Opera and performing with the Dallas Brass and major orchestras nationwide.