Mark Sylvester

Bio:

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Composer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Sylvester can be seen and heard in many diverse musical settings throughout the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, but he is primarily recognized for his solo acoustic guitar playing and his recent compositions for banjo in small classical chamber ensemble settings. Mark's two solo CDs, ..New Music for Banjo (2009) and ..American Gypsy (2003), illustrate his genre-crossing compositional style for both banjo and guitar. New Music for Banjo was recently awarded the 2009 WAMMIE Award for Classical Recording.

In addition to performing as a soloist, Mark plays guitar, banjo and mandolin as a member of Great Noise Ensemble (GNE), a Washington, DC-based new music group, and winner of the 2007 WAMMIE award for Classical Chamber Ensemble. Since it's inception in 2005, GNE has performed at The Kennedy Center, The National Gallery of Art, The Sidney Harman Hall, The Hirshorn Gallery, and the Catholic University of America.

Mark is also active in the Washington area's folk and acoustic music scene. He has earned four WAMMIE nominations (2005 - 2008) for contemporary folk instrumentalist. A sought-after accompanist on guitar, bass, banjo and mandolin, Mark performs and ..records with many of the DC area's singer-songwriters. Mark was also a member of the avant-folk group, Tree Surgeons, who from 1997 to 2001 appeared at festivals, art galleries, clubs, cafes, bookstores and headlining performances from Massachusetts to Virginia, performing original music from their two CDs, Witness (2000) and Eye of Time (1998).

As a company associate of The Only Animal Theatre Society, Mark has composed and produced full-length scores for two of its largest and most ambitious productions of site-specific theatre: NiX and Other Freds. NiX, Canada's first theatre of ice and snow, was selected by The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to be a part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. The show ran for five weeks at Lost Lake in Whistler, BC, during the 2010 Olympics. Mark's score for Other Freds was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award, while the production brought The Only Animal an award for "Expanding the Scope of Site Specific Performance".



REVIEWS:

"It isn't often that the banjo is used as a classical instrument. But for Mark Sylvester, the unusual use of the banjo sounds surprisingly normal and appropriate...Subtle, sparse, and strikingly beautiful...the banjo seems to bring out the more organic side of classical music. A refreshing change of pace..."
- LMNOP.com

"This album is a well-crafted crossroads for contemporary, classical and folksy banjo playing. If you enjoy Bela Fleck, or interesting takes on classical music, then Mark Sylvester's CD, "New Music for Banjo," is an undoubted must-hear.
- RadioIndy

"[American Gypsy]...is fairly faithful to the wonders Mark Sylvester does onstage live and solo...I rank it at the top, along with a favorite by Robin Bullock and Steve Baughman's profoundly beautiful "Celtic Guitar Summit."
- Ron Goad, concert organizer and board member of the Songwriters' Association of Washington

"Thankfully, guitarists like Maryland's Sylvester are keeping [Michael] Hedges' sound alive in blends of neo-classical, folk, and jazz. Sylvester's crisp, tender playing is particularly adept at drawing out folk melancholy."
- C|net editor's review

Member Since:

May 08, 2007

Members:

Mark: guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, flute, percussion

"Pulse (in 7)"
-banjo: Mark Sylvester
-violin: Andrea Vercoe
-violin: Heather Figi
-viola: Rebecca Kletzker
-cello: Matan Mintz

"Trio 2"
-banjo: Mark Sylvester
-viola: Rebecca Kletzker
-bass: Joel Ciaccio

"Trio 1"
-banjo: Mark Sylvester
-oboe: Janna Ryon
-cello: Matan Mintz

Influences:

J.S. Bach, The Beatles, Dave Brubeck

1970s-era Rush and Jethro Tull, classic-era Yes, Gabriel-era Genesis

Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Rickie Lee jones, John Denver, Cat Stevens

Terry Riley, Steve Reich

renaissance and baroque lutenists; the classical guitar literature from Sor and Guiliani through Rodrigo

Bela Fleck, Jaco Pastorius, Leo Kottke, Michael Hedges

The Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Van Halen

everything else I've ever heard, including many composers and musicians I've found on MySpace

Record Label:

Zucca the Cat