2025 Jazz Hero Mark Rapp

Trumpeter Mark Rapp is an accomplished recording artist with eight albums to his credit, including collaborations with Roy Hargrove, Esperanza Spalding and Branford Marsalis, and a career that’s taken him far from South Carolina, where he grew up, but has brought him back here, too, happily for us.

A graduate of Winthrop University and the University of New Orleans (he studied with Ellis Marsalis), Rapp honed his craft in New York City. DownBeat named him a “Top Emerging Jazz Trumpeter” in 2007 and 2008, and he’s been on stages from New Orleans to Europe and beyond.

Now based in Columbia, South Carolina, Rapp has become a driving force in the local jazz scene.  A few years ago, Columbia was not known as a vibrant hub for world-class jazz. That all changed when Rapp founded the  ColaJazz Foundation  in 2014.

As Executive Director of ColaJazz, a non-profit he built from the ground up, he’s worked tirelessly to promote jazz through education programs such as Jazz for Kids and high school and middle school band camps, as well as an adult jazz camp for players 18 and older. His efforts earned him a Governor’s Award for the Arts in 2020, and the title of South Carolina’s Ambassador of Jazz.

Rapp’s leadership has reinvigorated Columbia’s Main Street Jazz Festival, drawing globally-known artists such as Wynton Marsalis and Wycliffe Gordon. His efforts have also resulted in robust annual seasons of master classes, monthly concerts, listening series and a statewide radio program featuring performances and interviews on South Carolina’s National Public Radio. Those broadcasts comprise two streams over eight stations, and blend national stars with Columbia’s world-class local musicians. ColaJazz has enlisted an array of dedicated sponsors including Blue Cross/Blue Shield of South Carolina, Prisma Health, Yamaha and Dominion Energy — which demonstrates both Rapp’s leadership and the belief of the philanthropic sector, as well as many local restaurants and shops, in his vision for Columbia.

This gregarious brassman is committed to transforming Columbia into a cultural hub, making jazz — especially New Orleans style with all its energy and joy — accessible to new audiences. He wants to ensure the next generation of jazz lovers and musicians have a vibrant scene to call their own. Jazz Hero Mark Rapp overflows with enthusiasm for the music, for sharing it, and for those who play it. His energy and positivity are contagious.

— Gloria Krolak