Dr. Marcus Ostermiller has earned acclaim as a “contemporary music champion” with performances described as “virtuosic,” “compelling” (Broadway World), and “sparkling” (Opera News). His notable appearances include Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall (New York), the United States Embassy (Vienna), the Newman Center for the Performing Arts (Denver), the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Washington, D.C.).

Dr. Ostermiller holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Denver (BM) and New York University (MM, Ph.D.). His most influential teachers include Mary Warner, Melinda Baird, Larry Graham, Alice Rybak, Deirdre O’Donohue, Anthony de Mare, and Robert Durso. A recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship, he completed six years of graduate study at NYU, culminating in his doctoral dissertation, Musical Responses to AIDS: Meaning and Signification in Two Works for Solo Piano by Robert Savage and Kevin Oldham.

As a scholar-performer, Dr. Ostermiller has focused on the music of gay American composers lost to AIDS in the late twentieth century. An advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and treatment, he has curated, hosted, and performed in benefits for organizations such as the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, AIDS Walk New York, the Colorado AIDS Project, Bailey House, the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network, and the Joshua Gomes Memorial Scholarship Fund.

A dedicated educator, Dr. Ostermiller has taught privately and in group settings since 1999, first in Denver (1999–2009) and currently in New York City. In 2018, he received the Outstanding Teacher Award from Steinway & Sons, recognizing his excellence in piano instruction. In Denver, he served as Vice President of the Denver Area Music Teachers Association and adjudicated the Yamaha Piano Competition. In New York, he joined the Executive Board of the Piano Teachers Congress of New York, co-chairing its annual Honors Program—an acclaimed youth competition awarding cash prizes and culminating in performances at Carnegie Hall.

His institutional appointments have included Adjunct Instructor at NYU, Peripatetic Piano Instructor at the British International School of New York, and Juilliard Teaching Artist at the Nord Anglia International School. He now maintains a thriving private studio in Midtown Manhattan, where his teaching is rooted primarily in the Taubman Approach.

Dr. Ostermiller is featured on The Heart Revived (Innova Recordings), a 2016 release of music by Chicago-based composer Lawrence Axelrod.