Trying to find a slot in Mark’s busy schedule for this profile was easier said than done, but eventually we found an opportunity to sit down and have a chat. It was no surprise to learn that Mark comes from a musical family. He initially followed his father and started learning the piano but it was the siren call of the brass that caught his imagination. He was persuaded against following a friend who was a tenor horn player and took up the trumpet instead as it would give him more performance opportunities and he hasn’t looked back since. His musical studies continued alongside academic work and, when he went to Bath to read Physics, the trumpet went with him too. There he played in the Orchestra, Wind band, Brass Band and Big Band. Clearly that didn’t keep him anywhere near fully occupied so he took on the role of Chair of the Music Society as well.
After graduating Mark moved to Stratford to work with local firm, Enable, as a software engineer, and had to negotiate the logistics of lockdown early in his career.
It was not long before he sought out what the area has to offer on the music front too, joining this Orchestra, the Alcester Victoria Silver Band and the Stratford Concert Band.
Family is important and his parents are very supportive, travelling long distances to attend concerts. He particularly enjoys the occasions when he and his girlfriend (a tenor horn player and fellow Bath graduate) are able to play in the same band together.
I asked him what his musical highlights were and, as well as citing the incredible Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony that we performed here a couple of years ago, he has had a trumpet sonata written for him by his father which they have performed.