Originally from France, Sylvain Carton is a Bay Area musician and composer. He co-leads the Mitch Marcus Quintet and his MMQ + 13 compositions for big band won a "Subito" grant from the American Composer's Forum in 2004. Carton is the primary composer for the Japonize Elephants, an eclectic circus-gypsy-bluegrass-klezmer-jazz ensemble of seven to twelve musicians playing vibes, violin, bass, guitar, banjo, accordion, junk percussion, trumpet, flute, and saxophones. He received a BM in Jazz Performance from the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied with David Baker, and an M.A. in music composition from UC Santa Cruz, where he also co-directed the Latin American Music Ensemble. Sylvain is a Vandoren Performing Artist and Artistic Advisor.
