Marc Ramirez founded Vienna Woods Strings in the spring of 2026 as a string chamber orchestra dedicated to bringing beautiful music to Vienna VA and surrounding communities.  

In addition to conducting Vienna Woods Strings, Marc Ramirez currently serves as conductor of the Blue Mountain Festival Orchestra, a summer chamber music program dedicated to the artistic development of talented young musicians.

As a guest conductor, Mr. Ramirez has appeared with the Arlington Symphony, Dartington International Festival Orchestra, Reston Community Orchestra, Tokyo College of Music Chamber Orchestra, and various collegiate ensembles at Shenandoah Conservatory of Music, where he served on the faculty for thirteen years. For more than two decades, he has also been active as a clinician for high school and youth orchestras throughout Northern Virginia.

As a violinist and violist, Marc Ramirez began his studies at the age of 7 and began performing publicly at age 12. He has concertized throughout North America, Europe and Japan, and has appeared as soloist and chamber musician in such halls as the Kennedy Center and Phillips Collection; Carnegie Recital Hall, Merkin Hall and Symphony Space (NYC); Meyerhoff Symphony Hall (Baltimore); Cleveland Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum; Chicago Convention Center; Tretyakov Museum (Moscow); Dartington Hall (UK); Mozarteum (Austria); and the Nagasaki National Shrine (Japan). He studied with Aaron Rosand and Daniel Heifetz at the Peabody Institute, Erick Friedman at Yale University, and Henryk Szeryng by invitation. In 1984 he was chosen by Henryk Szeryng and sponsored by Peabody to tour with him in Europe for four sequential summers visiting Geneva, Monte Carlo, Nice and Siena.

Mr. Ramirez has performed on recitals broadcast in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. His solo and chamber music appearances have included collaboration with artists such as Leon Fleischer, Awadagin Pratt, Daniel Heifetz, and Stephen  Kovacevich.

Among his awards are first prize in the Henryk Szeryng Competition, shared first prize in the Parisot-Friedman International Competition, first place in the Cavallaro International for a two-year fellowship to Yale.

As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed extensively for more than twenty-five years as a member of the award-winning duo MARCOLIVIA, presenting concertos, masterclasses, recitals and summer festivals in Japan, the UK, Spain, Italy and Canada, as well as throughout the US.   Over seventy performances featuring Marcolivia may be viewed on the MARCOLIVIA YouTube channel