ABBA

Trumpeter from Cornwall, England, who attended the Birmingham School of Music, the National Centre for Orchestral Studies, and the Redruth School. His teachers included Hakan Hardenberger and John Wilbraham.

Groups with whom he has worked include the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Carharrack and St Day Silver Band, the Cornwall Youth Brass Band, the English Brass Ensemble, the Illogan-Sparnon Band, the London Sinfonietta, the Nash Ensemble, the Opera North, and the Philharmonia.

On 22^nd July 2002, the Nash Ensemble performed William Walton’s Façade at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

The Philharmonia painted a “Portrait of Anna Meredith and Emily Hall” at Southbank Centre on 16^th November 2003.

On 30^th May 2004, Mark was the featured soloist when the Philharmonia interpreted Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture”, Franz Joseph Haydn’s “Trumpet Concerto in E flat”, and selections from Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields appeared at Barbican Hall on 28^th July 2007 in a program that comprised Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40”.

On 17^th July 2008, they were joined by soprano Danielle de Niese for arias from George Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo and Semele, which were sandwiched in between Haydn’s “Symphony No. 70” and Mozart’s “Concerto for Flute and Harp” and “Exsultate, jubilate”.

They performed Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 2” and Mozart’s “Clarinet Concerto” and overture from The Marriage of Figaro at Barbican Hall on 18^th July 2008.

On 24^th July 2008, they offered up Haydn’s “Symphony No. 101”, Felix Mendelssohn’s “The Fair Melusine” and “Violin Concerto in E minor”, and Mozart’s “Symphony No. 33” at the Mostly Mozart Festival.

Mark and his fellow Philharmonia soloists took the stage on 8^th January 2009 at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery. Their recital consisted of Johann Georg Albrechtsberger’s “Concerto”, Herbert Clarke “Cousins”, Enrique Crespo’s “Improvisation”, Thorvald Hansen’s “Sonata”, Carl Hohne’s “Slavische Fantasy”, Otto Ketting’s “Intrada”, and Arthur Pryor’s “Thoughts of Love”.

On 25^th January 2009, the Benjamin Grosvenor was a guest soloist of the Philharmonia when they interpreted Edvard Grieg’s “Piano Concerto in A minor”, Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky’s “Fantasy Overture, Romeo and Juliet”.

The BBC Symphony Orchestra performed a concert of music by Hans Werner Henze that included his “Cherubino”, “Elogium musicum”, “Fraternite”, “Scorribanda pianistica”, “Symphony No. 4”, “Toccata mistica” and “Variations, Op. 13” at Barbican Hall on 16^th January 2010.

On 21^st January 2010, the Philharmonia gave the premiere of Helen Grime’s “Clarinet Concerto” and “To see the summer sky” at Royal Festival Hall. The evening was rounded out by Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor” and Mozart’s “Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466”, with David Fray at the keys.

Their concert on 5^th May 2011 was an all-Mahler affair that featured his fifth symphony and “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”, with soloists Sarah Connolly and Matthias Greene.

In the summer of 2011, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields embarked on a tour of Europe with conductor and pianist Murray Perahia.

They delivered a wall-to-wall Mozart program at Kings Place on 14^th October 2011 that included the master’s “Divertimento in D, K. 136”, “Flute Concerto No. 1 in G, K. 313”, “Oboe Concerto in C, K. 314”, and “Symphony No. 38 in D, K. 504” (“Prague”).

From 24^th to 26^th October 2011, they did a mini-tour of Germany with conductor Patrick Lange and soloist Gabriela Montero.

Recordings on which Mark is credited include: Family Carols by the Bach Choir; Geoffrey Burgon: Viola Concerto; Merciless Beauty; Cello Concerto; Leonard Slatkin Conducts Vaughan Williams; Mark-Anthony Turnage and Saint-Saens: Chamber Works by the Nash Ensemble; Mercadante: Decimini; La Poesia by the Philharmonia Soloists; and, Carl Davis: Sacred Seasons, Mahler: Symphony No. 5, Stravinsky the Composer: Volume X – Petrushka; The Nightingale and Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4; Fantasia on Greensleeves by the Philharmonia.

In the field of music education, he has taught at the Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal Academy of Music, and Wells Cathedral School.

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