Growing up in New Canaan, Connecticut, Mark started formal classical piano instruction at the age of five. After seeing Duke Ellington and his big band when he was 4 years old he was hooked. "I remember that night like it was yesterday. How could so many musicians be on stage together, playing different notes, and they all sound so smooth together! I didn't get it at first. I discovered harmony that night."
In the late sixties and seventies, music was exploding, boundaries were pushed and Mark's influences were many. Jazz artists like McCoy Tyner (an early mentor), Bill Evans and Chick Corea, the soul of Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder, prog rock acts like ELP, Genesis, the funky jazzy pop/rock of Steely Dan, harder rock bands like Led Zepplin and The Who. And of course, the Beatles...
After graduating from Syracuse University where he studied classical piano, Mark moved to New York City. There he studied privately with jazz greats Darius Brubeck and John Mehegan. Over a career spanning more than 25 years, he has recorded and toured with a diverse range of artists including Joe Cocker, Meatloaf, Enrique Iglesias, Gavin Degraw, Little Steven, Tom Jones, The E Street Band, Nona Hendryx, Luciano Pavorotti, and Darlene Love. His work can be heard in national commercials as well as feature films.
Mark has also performed in many theatrical productions, including the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Billy Joel/Twyla Tharpe's "Movin Out"; "Love, Janis", the highly acclaimed musical based on Joplin's life, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar".
Currently living in Weschester County, New York with his family, Mark works as a producer, composer, and musician.
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