A music graduate of King's College, Cambridge (where he was MD of the Cambridge Footlights) he has been the Musical Director for Les Miserables (Palace Theatre), Pacific Overtures (Donmar Warehouse - 2004 Olivier for Outstanding Musical Production), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre), The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Wyndham's Theatre), Metropolis (Piccadilly Theatre), Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse), Children of Eden (Prince Edward Theatre), Sweeney Todd (Holland Park), Groucho: a Life in Revue (Comedy Theatre), The Fields of Ambrosia (Aldwych Theatre), A Chorus Line (Royal Academy of Music), The Iron Man (Young Vic Theatre), City Of Angels (Royal Academy of Music) and Enter the Guardsman (Donmar Warehouse). He conducted Kiss Me Kate (Victoria Palace), the charity premiere of Martin Smith's King (Prince Edward Theatre), and was the MD for the Mercury Workshop Musical Revue (directed by Julia McKenzie) and a workshop and cast recording of Lionel Bart's musical: Quasimodo. He was Musical Supervisor for the world premiere of Stephen Sondheim's musical Saturday Night (subsequently conducting the original cast album) and for the European premiere of Adam Guettel's first musical Floyd Collins (both at the Bridewell Theatre).

 

In 1990 he co-created the Discover the Lost Musicals project which presents unjustly neglected musicals in Sunday concert performances at West End theatres. He has now been the Musical Director for twelve such pieces: Trouble in Tahiti, Fanny, Allegro, Greenwillow, Music in the Air, Red Hot and Blue, Love Life, Of Thee I Sing, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, As Thousands Cheer, I'd Rather Be Right and Cole Porter's Dubarry was a Lady which he conducted live with the BBC Concert Orchestra at His Majesty's Theatre for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

 

Mark is much in demand as an orchestral arranger and conductor. Theatre arrangements include Hard Times (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), Nine (Donmar: London premiere), Into the Woods (Donmar), The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Wyndham's Theatre), George Stiles' Moll Flanders (recorded for First Night Records), Maxwell, Brontë, The Legendary Golem (music by Cathy Shostak), I'm No Angel, Adrian Mole, Scheherazade and Yusupov. Television arranging commissions include the signature tunes to the hit comedy series May to December and Watching, the TV drama Mr Pye, the Omnibus documentary Mr. Abbott's Broadway and the award-winning film A Penny for your Dreams. Also Ties of Blood, Scott Free, Foreign Bodies, The Black and Blue Lamp, Colours, Split Ends and Not Pots.

 

He has arranged album tracks for the King's Singers and created numerous synthesised soundtracks for television, including Sunny Stories, Shadowlands, The Berlin Airlift, Mkomazi Rhino, The Lowdown and Testament. On New Year's Eve 1995 Classic FM broadcast the first performance of his orchestration of a long-lost Quartetto by Ponchielli (composer of La Gioconda) for solo woodwind quartet and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the conductor of Christine Andreas' recently-released album of Broadway songs Here's To The Ladies which features fourteen new arrangements for full orchestra.

 

He has scored much incidental music for Carl Davis, including A Year in Provence, Genghis Cohn, The Thatcher Years, Oliver's Travels, The Queen's Nose, The Shadowy Third, Who Shall Be Happy, Anne Frank Remembered (Oscar for Best Documentary Film 1995) and the acclaimed BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth.

 

Mark is currently associate conductor of The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre).