February 9, 1964…

That was the defining moment.  In a small living room with a black & white television, upstairs of a restaurant in northern Wisconsin.  Marks family was returning from a ski vacation in Michigan, and the family stopped to get something to eat.  The owners had living quarters upstairs, and after some intense begging, Mark and his sister were allowed to watch what would become a life-changing event…

The Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show

Later that year, Mark began his musical life at the ripe old age of ten when he received his first electric guitar and amp (Harmony & Supro). Spending his initial years playing in surf bands covering the likes of the Ventures and Surfaris, he honed his skills at school dances and private parties while expanding his repertoire and learning various rock guitar performance styles.

His devotion to the guitar blossomed with his discovery of the blues. The gritty, homespun music of the Mississippi Delta and clubs of Chicago hit a sweet spot in his heart. The sounds of Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon, Paul Butterfield and their contemporaries both inspired and comforted.

As his musical vistas expanded, jazz became his primary focus. After a short stint at the University of Wisconsin, Mark was accepted at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. As a composition major he became immersed in the musical stylings of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, and Bill Evans. Studying these originators of modern jazz led to an exploration of contemporary artists such as Weather Report, Pat Metheny, and Chick Corea. While at Berklee he had the privilege of studying composition and arranging with world-renowned composer/arranger Michael Gibbs (Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel, John McLaughlin, Gary Burton). Gibbs enlightened Mark to the synthesis between all musical disciplines and their application in regard to contemporary popular music.

Mark was then accepted to the Masters Degree program of Contemporary Orchestral Composition at North Texas State University (NTSU). This academic situation allowed him to study standard classical compositional techniques along with contemporary electronic music with the founder of the Center of Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI), Merrill Ellis. There, Mark first learned of the compositional capabilities of computers and synthesizers. Exposure to the Synclavier Digital Music System, Modular Moog Analog Synthesizer, and computer-generated soundscapes honed his skills and revealed the interplay between sonic and visual imagery. During this stage of study Mark also developed an interest in Musicology. When he wasn’t in the music lab creating synthesized atmospheres he was in the library studying lute tablature from the medieval period.

Once his studies at NTSU were finished, Mark moved to Memphis and accepted a job as a Vocal Arranger and Staff Composer at a large music company specializing in production music, film scores, and commercials. This was where all of Mark's education and performance experiences coalesced. One day he would be arranging for a large jazz ensemble, the next a country band or a heavy metal group, then a string quartet. To accomplish the creative goal Mark immersed himself within a musical style, finding its essence and then conveying it in a fresh but authentic manner. Mark earned a reputation for writing, performing and producing original music within unreasonable time constraints. Two years sweating it out in both Memphis and Nashville, it was time to make the move to Los Angeles.

After a short time beating the pavement, Mark was able to land a job as Music Director at a leading Hollywood music production company. It was at that time he met Jim Griffith, his future production partner and musical ally. Together they wrote and produced music for a multitude of film, television, and commercial projects. The combination of Mark's compositional expertise and Jim's sonic sensibilities made the relationship work at a very high creative level. Their ability to break a creative idea down to its essence, and then apply their combined experience and know-how to build a sonic pallet complimentary to any concept resulted in a very successful run spanning a quarter century.  Over that time Mark has worked with a large group of talented performers to produce a wide range of award-winning music that can be heard in more than 30 countries.  He has either written for, arranged or recorded; Al Green, Michael McDonald, Dolly Parton, Johnny Mandel, Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock), Peter Erskine (Weather Report), Danny Thomas, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Fowler (Zappa), Kenny Rogers, Bill Champlin (Chicago), Jonathan Winters, Jaleel White, Casey Kasem, Gary Owens, Little Richard, The Lennon Sisters, Mike Post, Donna DeLory (Madonna), Queen Latifah, Timothy B. Schmidt (Eagles), Tony Geary, Jennifer Warnes, Chris Hillman (The Byrds), and Quincy Jones, just to name a few.

In 2007, Mark decided it was time for a change in lifestyle.  He left his Pasadena, CA home of twenty-five years and relocated to Central Florida to be closer to his family.  A deep desire to leave the commercial music domain and reenter the art music scene inspired Mark to build another studio in his new home with all the amenities of the four previous studios he had built, and owned, in Los Angeles.  This time there were no deadlines, no agencies, no managers, and no studio producers.  It took a while to ratchet down from the frenetic pace of a Hollywood composer, but eventually a groove was found.

It didn’t last long…

A chance meeting with a longtime music faculty member at St. Petersburg College, led to an opportunity Mark could not pass up.  After a series of meetings and demonstrations, Mark was asked to design and implement a Commercial Music Studies program at SPC.  Mark’s post-graduate credentials and long professional career made him the logical choice.  The initial scope was small, but had a very focused strategy; Build a program that you wish would have been available to you before starting your career, and train students to get real jobs in the entertainment industry.

In 2008 Mark began building the Music Industry/Recording Arts (MIRA) program at St. Petersburg College.  It started with a couple of courses and a dozen students.  Within a year Mark had built an Associate in Science degree in MIRA.  Today, what started as a small concept in a single classroom has grown to over seventy courses, three recording studios, classrooms spread over six campus buildings, 300 students and thirty faculty members all working toward the same goal…preparing students to enter the Arts & Entertainment workforce.  At last count MIRA has forty graduates all prepared for a successful career.  MIRA graduates are already touring the world, building studios, creating recording projects, and reaping the benefits of the training the MIRA program provides.

The combined experience of an award winning professional career, and a distinguished academic tenure gives Mark the unique skills to create a relevant training system in the art of audio production.  His insight into what is relevant to success, and what is peripheral in nature is extremely important to someone looking for guidance and education.