ABBA

He is a violinist, conductor and teacher, occasionally credited as Mark Skzinetsky, born in Odessa, Ukraine, who studied at the Odessa Conservatory and graduated with honours as a chamber instrumentalist, orchestral musician, performer and teacher. He performed with the Odessa State Philharmonic Orchestra after he had won the Competition for Young Talents when he was 15 before emigrating to Canada in 1979.

He became a member of the Stratford Chamber Ensemble and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and then 1980 he took up a position with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He has remained with them ever since and progressed to the post of Assistant Concertmaster. During his time with them he has also been a co-founder of the Moveable Feast and the Maple Trio, appeared with the Canadian Film Orchestra and the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and made a name for himself as a chamber musician.

He is a regular on CBC Radio and was picked by Glenn Gould to appear on what would be his final recording. In 1996 he made appearances solo and in a duo with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia de Baria in Italy.

No stranger to the movies, he has been heard as a concertmaster/violinist in many movies that include The Guys, The Snow Walker, Twice in a Lifetime, The White Countess and You Can Count On Me.

As a conductor he began taking studies in 1993 with Maestro Gustav Meier, conducted the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico in 2008 and 2009 and he led the music in the 2006 movie Comeback Season.

He has appeared on numerous recordings during his career and, aside from ones with the Toronto Symphony, a few of these include Adeste Fidelis by Louis and Geno Quilico, Chamber Suite by Ensemble Vivant; Don’t Smoke in Bed by the Holly Cole Trio, Illuminations by Judy Loman, Country Croonin’ by Anne Murray and Hallucinations by David Usher as well as Tchaikovsky Discovers America and Beethoven Lives Upstairs in the Classical Kids series, Catherine Wilson & Friends, Fanfare: Shakespearean Music from Stratford and The Romantic Flute.

In the world of musical education he has been on the faculties of the University of Toronto’s Music Department and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Toronto Symphony Orchestra Recordings

CBC SMCD 5119 I (CD - Adeste Fidelis)

Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Children's Chorus

Conductor - Jean Ashworth Bartle

Soloists - Louis and Gino Quilico

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