Fellowship Award
In 2022 Varela received a Fellowship and Award from Creative Capital for Jazz, Jazz Performance, and Multimedia Performance.
Varela is a recent recipient of two South Arts “Jazz Road” grants and is a Creative Capital fellow and Awardee. The newest addition to his “San Ygnacio Project,” funded by Creative Capital, dives into his mixed Hispanic and borderlands roots. He toured the southwest performing this music in late 2024. A new record is being recorded and toured in 2025 with performances in Spain, Mexico and Hispanic communities of the southwest United States.
Teaching
Marcos Varela’s teaching pedagogy includes masterclass lectures on improvisation, playing in a rhythm section, composing and film scoring, ensemble instruction in various musical settings, big band instruction, as well as private lessons at the university level at some of the most prestigious music programs worldwide, including University of Miami, Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts, Berklee College Of Music, HSPVA Houston, Texas A&M University, and many others. Varela was also a guest faculty member at Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music in Tamil Nadu, India alongside international artists Dafnis Prieto, Manuel Valera, Jordan Rudess, Carmen Staff, Ferenc Nemeth, Victor Gould, and many others.
Beginning in the Fall Semester 2022, Marcos joined the faculty at his Alma Mater, The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School in New York City. In 2024 he joined Montclair State University as Professor of Music.
Production
Marcos Varela’s work as producer, writer and arranger for Alicia Waller & The Excursion continues with a 2025 debut album release “Louder Then” mixing jazz, soul and global fusion. Additional production work includes jazz artist Markus Rutz’s “Blueprints Figure One: FRAMEWORKS” and “Blueprints Figure Two: NEW DESIGNS” released from Origin Records.
Composition
Composing projects include various TV/Film scoring projects for acclaimed Directors such as Aundre Johnson of “Third Rule”- “Modern Family”, Domenica Cameron-Scorsese “Roots in Water”, John Carlino “Greenwich and 11th”. For more info, please see the “Film” tab.
In addition to this Varela has worked with acclaimed Songwriters/Composers such as Larry John McNally (Rod Stewart, Bonnie Raitt, Mavis Staples) and Lee Curreri (Fame) among others.