A resident of Los Angeles, Martin Herman was educated at Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University. He also spent two years in Paris on a Fulbright Grant where he worked as a composer and conductor with the "New American Music in Europe" and "American Music Week" festivals. Aside from his conducting interests, Herman is an active composer and arranger. He has received fellowships and grants from the American Music Center, the Camargo Foundation, Meet the Composer, Trust for Mutual Understanding, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has written chamber and orchestral works as well as two operas. He is recorded on the Albany Record label.

Recent guest conducting engagements include the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, The Kansas City Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Virginia Symphony, the Delaware Symphony, the Alabama Symphony, the Omaha Symphony, and the Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic.