Marcus received his Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education/Performance from Alabama A&M University in 2002 and opened Pope’s School of Percussion in 2009. Pope’s School of Percussion has an annual workshop, “Back to Basics”, taught by world-renowned artists such Will Kennedy (Yellowjackets), J.D. Blair(Victor Wooten, Shania Twain) Larnell Lewis (Snarky Puppy) Darrell Tibbs( Take 6, Donna Summer), Calvin Rodgers (Fred Hammond, Kirk Franklin, Jonathan Butler, Marvin Sapp, Yolanda Adams, Rachelle Farell). Pope’s School of Percussion’s mission is: “Strive to help students learn that nothing is beyond their grasp and that they can achieve anything they set their minds to”, making this more than just a school of percussion.
Marcus has been credited on many projects, including: Kelvin Wooten’s Grammy Award-nominated “Windows”; J.D. Blair’s “2012”; The Waters/Felts Project; Madison Mission’s “Soulful Christmas”; Tracy Hamlin “Better Days”; Russell Smith’s “The End Is Not In Sight”; James Bowman’s “My Perspective” and “She’s An Original”; Jolanda Green’s “Scared Serenade”; Sam Pope, Jr.’s “His Sound” and “Hear Our Prayer”; Chris Blue’s “Humanity”, Anthony Hamilton, Elayna Boynton, Walter Hawkins, Kim Burrell, Maurette Brown Clark, Eddie Levery, Percy Sledge, Candi Staton, Ellis Marsalis, Eddie “Spanky” Alford, and Mac Davis.
