Marty was principal/solo tubist with the United States Navy Band in Washington, D.C., where he served for twenty-six years. He has been the principal Eb Tubist with the Brass Band of Battle Creek for the past twenty-five years and is a founding member of Millennium Brass Quintet, The Symphonia tuba-euphonium ensemble, and the Tuba-Percussion duo Balance with percussionist Alison Shaw. He is currently principal tuba with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra and performs with Rodney Marsalis “Philadelphia Big Brass.”
Having served on the faculties of Penn State University and Eastern Michigan University, Mr. Erickson is in his 17th year as Instructor of Tuba, Euphonium and Chamber music at the Conservatory of Music at Lawrence University and performs with the Lawrence Brass faculty brass quintet.
Mr. Erickson has performed as a soloist/clinician throughout Western Europe, China, Japan, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, Bermuda, Cuba and in 48 of the 50 United States. He has performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the National Symphony and Annapolis Chamber Orchestras (with performances at Carnegie Hall and the J.F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), the Baltimore Opera Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony, the Washington Masterworks Orchestra, and the Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Gunther Schuller. He has also performed as soloist on concert and recital series programs with the United States Army Band, The U.S. Army Field Band, the U.S. Marine Band and the Army Garrison bands of Oulu and Helsinki, Finland. In April 2008, Mr. Erickson performed four concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, serving as “extra tuba” in performances of Symphony Fantastique. In March of 2013, Mr. Erickson performed a solo tuba recital in the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York City.
He has been a featured jazz and classical performer at seven International Tuba-Euphonium Conventions, which included ITEC 2012 at the Brucknerhaus in Linz, Austria, and most recently at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN. He performed at the 2007 International Women’s Brass conference at Illinois State University. In May 2015, Marty traveled to Switzerland and Germany to perform as guest soloist with brass bands and as a recitalist. Additionally, he has made Seven appearances as guest jazz artist/teacher for the Deutsches TubaForum International Tuba and Euphonium Workshop at the Bayerische Musikakademie in Hammelburg.
Marty has released three solo jazz CDs; "My Very Good Friend" with pianist John Sheridan; "Smile," with Marvin Stamm and Frank Mantooth, and most recently "You and I" with trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and an all-star rhythm section. He has performed on over fifty recordings of orchestra, concert band, brass band, dixieland jazz, folk, and children's music. His most recent recordings include performances with the Millennium Brass Quintet, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, and the New Columbian Brass Band on the Dorian label, as well as Grammy-nominated recordings with the Symphonia Tuba-Euphonium Ensemble. As a tubist/bassist, Marty has worked with Joe Wilder, Grover Washington, Pete Christlieb, Sammy Davis Jr., Donny McCaslin, Phil Wilson, Hank Levy, Ray Charles, Louis Bellson, Pearl Bailey, and many more.
Mr. Erickson is Past-President of the International Tuba-Euphonim Association, the only President to be elected to two terms. He is the Adjudicating Chairman for the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium and Tuba Festival (LFIETF). As a founding member, Mr. Erickson has served 33 years on the Falcone Festival board.
Marty is a clinician/design consultant for the Willson tubas distributed by the Getzen Company in the US, and performs on the Willson 3400S Eb Tuba, the 3100S BBb Tubas and the Erickson Signature mouthpieces he helped to design.