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. Ron Goad, a concert organizer and board member of the Songwriters' Association of Washington, has said of American Gypsy: "This CD...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." A c|net editor's review commented: "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." And a recent review (LMNOP.com) of New Music for Banjo writes: "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..."
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; and this past April Mark and several GNE members performed selections from New Music for Banjo (as well as other compositions by Mark) at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. Mark's compositions on New Music for Banjo were premiered by GNE, and he is currently composing a concerto for banjo and orchestra to be premiered during GNE's 2010-2011 season.
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 area's singer-songwriters, including Verlette Simon, Sense of Wonder and Australia's Iain Campbell Smith (aka, Fred Smith). 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, a theatre company based in Vancouver, BC, Mark has composed and produced the music for two of their largest and most ambitious productions of site-specific theatre: NiX (2009 Calgary, AB, and 2010 Whistler, BC) and Other Freds, (2005 Vancouver, BC). NiX, Canada's first theatre of ice and snow, has been selected by The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to be a part of the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. The show will run 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 the award for 'Expanding the Scope of Site Specific Performance".
That was so much fun the other night! We've been sitting around the hotel room trying to come up with some superlatives to describe your banjo playing, and we are failing miserably. Suffice to say, you totally rule! Can't wait to see you up in our fair city soon!
Thanks for the add. Love your unusual instrumentation of classical music. I have been wanting to hear and learn that style for years but was unable to find any music. Sue Picknell...Banjo player for The Strawberry Farm Band
Hey neighbor! Neat stuff, you have your own thing, i am very much enjoying listening to it! Thanks for stopping by, i hope to meet you on the circuit; Sincerely ~Woody
Hey man! I've been keeping up with your email as well - sounds you've got some good stuff going on as well. If you ever want to do any recording, definitely keep me in mind - I've got a full pro studio now and am producing full time - a big upgrade from my little bedroom in Crystal City! And I may need a session player for one of my artists at some point, so maybe you'd be interested in that as well.
