Tilden Marbit, a native New Yorker, began his musical journey on the piano at the age of four. He later attended LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, where he was required to choose an orchestral instrument in addition to piano. What began as an unexpected choice—the bassoon—quickly became his passion.

Tilden went on to study at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music as one of its first Schulich Scholars, training under Stéphane Lévesque, principal bassoonist of the Montreal Symphony. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree there before continuing at Mannes College in New York, where he studied with Kim Laskowski, associate principal bassoon of the New York Philharmonic. At Mannes, he received his Master of Music degree in 2011 and a Professional Studies Diploma in 2014.

In 2012, Tilden joined the graduate woodwind quintet SIREN, completing a year-long residency at the University of Maryland. His summer studies have taken him to renowned programs such as the Orford Festival, Le Domaine Forget, the Banff Centre, and the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He has also appeared as a concerto soloist with The Chelsea Symphony and as part of Third Street Music School Settlement’s annual Bachfest.

Beyond performance, Tilden is an active composer,arranger and teacher. His arrangement of a jingle for New York Life Insurance aired during Major League Baseball broadcasts in 2010. More recently, Tilden is the writer and composer for the short film Crohn’s: The Musical, which premiered at the Columbia University Film Festival and the New York Shorts International Film Festival. As an educator and a recent alum of Teachers College at Columbia University, Tilden is a teacher of elementary school music in Harlem in addition to serving as Musical Director at a summer camp in the Adirondacks.