Composer, performer Mark Kirschenmann is involved in many diverse musical
projects including solo electronic performance pieces, chamber and
orchestral works as well as rock, jazz, and improvisational music. His
primary interests include the exploration of the confluence where
composition and improvisation meet, and the forging of a seamless,
polystylistic music drawing on his many influences. Mark has an ongoing
passion for composing and performing with his electric/MIDI trumpet; his
work in this area with groups such as Maschina, Quartex, and The All
Rectangle, as well as a soloist has been hailed by the likes of Anthony
Braxton, Rob Mazurek, and Mark Isham. He has received grants from the
Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, and commissions from the Pittsburgh
New Music Ensemble as well as the Bonk and Brave New Works new music
festivals. Mark's music is heard throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has
performed in major venues including The Knitting Factory in New York, and
The Empty Bottle and Hot House in Chicago, and released a number of
CDRs, including a new recording with the U of M's Digital Music
Ensemble on O.O. Discs. Mark holds degrees in composition from Carnegie
Mellon University, the Eastman School of Music, and is currently a Ph.D.
Candidate at the University of Michigan. His principal composition
teachers have included Leonardo Balada, Lukas Foss, Joseph Schwantner,
and Michael Daugherty. He has also studied with Pittsburgh Symphony
trumpeters Charles Hois and Roger Sherman.
Back to the Return of Are You Brave ? Festival 2001