composer bio

(long version: ~ 500 words)

Mark Phillips (b. 1952) won the 1988 Barlow International Competition with his orchestral composition Turning, which has been performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Japan, with Leonard Slatkin conducting, as well as by the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, with Uriel Segal conducting. His String Quartet No. 2 was commissioned, premiered, and recorded by the Lark Quartet.  In 2004 he premiered Turning Two Hundred, a 50-minute commissioned work for orchestra, jazz band, drum corps, handbell choir, electronic music, eight instrumental soloists, video, and dance. Commissioned for a 2005 premiere in Memphis, his Dreams Interrupted has received subsequent performances in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Duluth, Baltimore, Dallas, Birmingham (AL), and Athens (OH). Following a national competition, Pi Kappa Lambda commissioned a chamber work from Phillips, which led to the premiere of Bushwhacked! in San Antonio, Texas (September 2006).

Other significant performances of his music have taken place at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in NYC, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wigmore Hall in London, Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, and in Chicago, Stockholm, Krakow, Warsaw, Graz, Greece, and the Netherlands. His works have been performed by the Kansas City Symphony, the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, the Huntington Symphony Orchestra, the Baltic Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra, the Bahia Blanca Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Ensemble Eclipse (Beijing), and the Icelandic Symphony. Rain Dance for flute and electro-acoustic music, winner of the 1994 Newly Published Flute Music Competition, has been recorded by flutist Jill Felber on the Neuma label. T. Rex for trombone and electro-acoustic music has been recorded by John Marcellus, Andrew Glendening, and Carlos Gil Ferrer. Richard Stoltzman recorded Three of a Kind with the Warsaw Philharmonic conducted by George Manahan for the MMC label. Sonic Landscapes has been recorded by oboist Stephen Caplan for Musician’s Showcase. Other awards and distinctions include the 1990 Delius Chamber Music Award, ASCAP Standard Awards, an ASCAP Raymond Hubbell Award, grants from Meet the Composer, and fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council, the Indiana Arts Commission, Ohio University, and Indiana University. His music has been featured at the Blossom Festival, Chautauqua Summer Music Festival, Bowling Green New Music and Art Festival, Memphis State New Music Festival, Florida State University Festival of New Music, conferences of the National Flute Association, International Double Reed Society, International Trombone Association, International Trumpet Guild, the World Saxophone Congress, and the national conferences of both the Society of Composers, Inc. and the Society of Electro-Acoustic Musicians in the United States.

 

Mr. Phillips is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music at the Ohio University, where he has taught since 1984. From 1982-84 he was a Visiting Instructor of composition at the Indiana University School of Music. Born in Philadelphia, he holds a B.M. degree from West Virginia University and both an M.M. degree and a D.M. degree from Indiana University.

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click here for two shorter, more condensed bios

click here for medium length bio

click here for a list of awards and composition prizes

click here for link to my Ohio University page

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