Guest Artist: Shawn Marren, Sr.

Shawn Marren hails from Philadelphia, PA, and has been playing trumpet since he was nine years old.  At age 14, his family relocated to Southwest Florida.  While a student at Lemon Bay High School, Shawn was the principal trumpet of the Sarasota Youth Philharmonic for 3 years, and was the youngest musician to hold a paid chair with the Venice Symphony. Shawn pursued his music studies at the University of South Florida where he studied Trumpet Performance with Dr. Jay Coble.  While in college he was music director at several churches and performed extensively in theatre pit orchestras throughout Sarasota and Tampa.

Eventually, Shawn literally ran away and joined the circus: he toured nationally as a keyboardist and later a trumpet player with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and then went on to become the music director of several other historic circuses.  After many years of touring with the circus, Shawn moved to Las Vegas and began working as a composer and sound designer for Konami Gaming, Inc, one of the world leaders in the gaming industry. 

During the COVID pandemic, Shawn, his wife, and their three sons relocated back to Englewood to be closer to family.  He currently works remotely as a Sound Designer and maintains a busy freelancing schedule throughout Southwest Florida.  Shawn currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Venice Chorale and the Charlotte County Jazz Society where he is the Director of Education.  This is Shawn’s first season as Principal Trumpet with the North Port Symphony.