MARK GRESHAM photo credit: John Noel Wheeler ©2004 Lux Nova Press

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Today is Friday 30 Jul 2010


Mark Gresham is an American composer whose music is rooted in traditions of neo-romanticism, yet explores modern and eclectic influences with a passionate lyricism that is sensitive to word, history, and sense of place.

His compositions have been performed in the U.S. by instrumental ensembles such as the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Youth Orchestra, Bent Frequency, Thamyris, Georgia State University Percussion Ensemble, and the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet. His choral music has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the National Lutheran Choir, the New York Concert Singers, the Emory University Concert Choir, the Plymouth Music Series, the Candler Choraliers, and the choir of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (Boston), among others. His compositions have also been performed by artists such as cello/piano duo Dorothy and Cary Lewis, cellist Karen Freer, percussionist Stuart Gerber, and mezzo-soprano Maya Hoover.

Internationally, performances of his music have touched such far-flung places as Indonesia, Estonia, South Africa, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most recently, the European premiere of his “Sonata for Violoncello and Piano” took place in October 2008, performed by the Helix Duo, with three subsequent performances in Belgium during the spring of 2009.

Recent premieres in 2009 include “Vagabond Drumming, Book II” by solo percussionist Stuart Gerber in March, and the quartet “Mortal Coils” by new music group Bent Frequency in April. Upcoming works in progress include “Essays” for violist Brett Deubner, “Genshi” for violinist Helen Kim and clarinetist Ted Gurch, a setting of Sidney Lanier's poem “The Marshes of Glynn” for baritone William Stone, and “Endless Forms” for pianist Lisa Leong. Mark Gresham's music is published by Lux Nova Press.

Gresham began writing music in his teens, when he also studied conducting with Michael Palmer, then associate conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He also performed as a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus under the direction of the late Robert Shaw. Gresham is a three-time recipient of individual artist grants from the Georgia Council for the Arts and was among the first round of composers selected for the “Faith Partners” composer-in-residence programs sponsored by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund under the auspices of the American Composers Forum.

In addition to being a composer and conductor, Mark Gresham is a writer and music journalist. His book of interviews, Choral Conversations, is scheduled for re-release in an expanded second edition later this year. He has been a contributing writer for Creative Loafing-Atlanta since 2002, subsequently winning an ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award in music journalism in 2003.

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