WELCOME

Image of Mark standing in front of a mural on the South Terrace side of East West Design in South Fremantle. The image is watermarked Alma Sarhan Photography.

Photo:Alma Sarhan Photography

Welcome to my website that traces my current and past activity over nearly 40 years. Many of you may be interested to catch up with a bit of a retrospective of AC/PVC (under PROJECTS), so I've dug into my archives and come up with a story and photos of that amazing time (watch the youtube link here and below for a great video of the 1980s AC/PVC era done by my AC/PVC colleague, Peter Keelan).

So a quick synopsis...

In late October 2024 after 27 years of school-based touring with Musica Viva, I went to Sydney for my final tour with the trio version of Eastwinds. This was my sixth year playing in this wonderful trio (subsequent to long stints with Nova Ensemble and Ozmosis) alongside ney and daf virtuoso, Esfandiar Shahmir (Iran) and Japanese-born, Sanshi redefining what's possible on his unique extendable didgerdoo and shinobue flute. Eastwinds began in this trio format in 2013, expanding to a six-piece with Estonian singer, Kristiina Maalaps, guitarist, Steve Barnes and his bassist son, Kieran. In 2020 Kristiina returned to live in Estonia, coming back in 2024 for a brief work stint and some reunion concerts with the full band. It's always exhilarating when the complete Eastwinds band is together on stage!

My current project is recording and transcribing pieces for chalumeau, a small single register renaissance antecedent of the modern clarinet. There are a few chalumeau makers of both with and without some keys. The instrument is remarkably versatile and can almost fit in one's pocket. I'm in the process of producing an online publication (featuring recordings and transcriptions) of pieces I've written and collected over the years. I'll keep you posted...

Over recent years I've been playing with the Indian sarod player, Praashekh Borkar in the Praashekh Quartet, who featured at the National Folk Festival (Canberra) in 2019 as well as performing and recording with South African-born guitarist, Ilan Zagoria in duo, trio and quartet settings. Ilan is both an accomplished guitarist and composer whose southern African and Sephardic-tinged music has taken me in some fresh directions.

Other projects have included composer/percussionist, Michael Pignéguy in his Awakenings Ensemble and the long-established Ozmosis (with my old school friend, guitarist, Tim Chambers) and its off-shoot, Ozmosis Street Band, who perform a repertoire of Catalan folk music played on traditional Catalan double reed instruments (gralla and tarota).

Visit my Recordings to hear my work in a wide variety of settings.

The Performance page documents the numerous groups with whom I've played and recorded over the decades. Enjoy a journey through my past. There's a huge variety of music in the audio clips I've also included here.

Finally, my Projects focusses on site-specific sound installation I have designed in school and community settings. Hopefully, the included photos capture the breadth of this activity.

**PLEASE CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ME**

... And below are some links to various internet pages and recordings: