Marco Donato Tomassi

Marco Donato Tomassi is a graduate student in historical musicology at Columbia University whose primary research focuses on sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italian music and the eastern Mediterranean. His current research on Venetian Crete (ca. 1600) approaches questions of power, administration, and migration to contribute towards a new understanding of music making and intellectual culture on the island during the later period of Venetian colonial rule. Marco’s work is primarily archival and has been supported by periods of residency at the Vittore Branca International Center for the Study of Italian Culture, Giorgio Cini Foundation, in Venice, Italy.

Marco is currently co-editor-in-chief of Current Musicology, the oldest graduate-student-led journal in music studies. He has served as President of the Organization of Music Graduate Students since September 2024, and is currently a student representative on the Historical Musicology/Music Theory Colloquium Planning Committee. Marco also frequently writes program notes and delivers pre-concert lectures as part of the Sacred Music Series at St. Paul’s Chapel on Columbia’s campus.

Marco has presented his work at the Society for Seventeenth-Century Music, the 2024 NYU MARGIN Symposium, the International Clarinet Association’s Clareidoscope 2022 conference and at Columbia University and SUNY Potsdam. Marco received his B.M. in musical studies and music performance, summa cum laude and with departmental honors, from the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam. His undergraduate research was funded by the Robert and Beverly Washburn Travel Fund and Presidential Scholars program and supported by the Giorgio Cini Foundation.

As a baritone and clarinetist, Marco performs with Columbia’s Collegium Musicum and has founded a quintet, the Columbia Chansonniers, devoted to performing music before 1600 with colleagues from within the department. In his free time, Marco can usually be found climbing, hiking, or maintaining his harpsichord.