Marcus Creed was born and raised on the south coast of France. He studied at the College in Cambridge, the Christ Church in Oxford and the Guildhall School in London. From 1977 - 1998 he lived in Berlin where he was choir conductor at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, lecturer for song interpretation at the Hochschule der Künste, conductor and pianist at the Gruppe Neue Musik and Scharoun Ensemble, artistic director of RIAS-Kammerchor (receiving numerous international awards including, amongst others: the Edison Award, Diapason d'Or and Cannes classical Award. He has cooperated with early music ensembles like Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester and Concerto Köln. He has been invited to festivals including the Berliner Festwochen, Wien Modern, Salzburger Festspiele, festivals in Montreux, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Donaueschingen, Strasbourg and Göttingen.
Since 1998 he has been professor for conducting at the Musikhochschule Köln, and since 2003 artistic director of the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart.