Mark Gasser

Mark Gasser
Mark Gasser at a recording session in Newcastle, NSW, in March 2007
Background information
Born	6 July 1972 (1972-07-06) (age 39) Sheffield, UK
Genres	Baroque, Classical, Romantic 20th century
Occupations	Pianist, classical musician
Instruments	Piano

Mark Gasser (pronounced /ˈmɑrk ˈɡæsər/; born 1972 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire)^[1] is a British concert pianist.

Career

Gasser is a fellow of the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. He studied with John Humphreys at the Birmingham Conservatoire, and with Frank Wibaut at the Royal Academy of Music. Later he also studied with Alfred Brendel and Peter Donohoe.

Gasser plays large-scale standard repertoire piano works, in particular the Viennese Classics (Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert) and Edvard Grieg, Felix Mendelssohn, Ferruccio Busoni, and Rachmaninoff, and the French Impressionists Debussy and Ravel. His repertoire ranges from Bach's Goldberg Variations to Messiaen's Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus.^[2] As a chamber musician he has performed in all the major chamber music festivals in the US, Europe and Australia^[3][4] and has toured with the virtuoso cellist Mats Lidström.

His concerto repertoire includes more than 70 works ranging from Bach to music from the present day. Gasser collaborates with contemporary composers and has premiered and recorded compositions by 20th-century composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Ross Edwards (composer),^[5] Constant Lambert, Benjamin Britten, Henri Pousseur, Henry Cowell, Toru Takemitsu, George Crumb,^[6] James McMillan, Alistair Zaldua, Michael Tippet, John Webb, James Dillon, Phillip Whilby, Richard Barrett, Aldo Clementi, Mike Vaughan, John Cage, Luigi Dallapiccola, John Adams, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Olivier Messiaen,^[7] Luigi Nono, Edgard Varèse, Judith Bingham, Pierre Boulez, Joël-François Durand, Frank Zappa, György Ligeti and Ronald Stevenson. Gasser has also worked with contemporary artists such as Pink, Jarvis Cocker and Björk.

Gasser performed Stevenson's Passacaglia on DSCH^[8][9] at Carnegie Hall^[10][11] as a charity concert shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City to raise money for the families of rescue worker's who died in the September 11, 2001 attack.

Gasser was a founding member of the Thallein Ensemble and has performed in some of the world's major concert halls and music festivals and has been a soloist with a number of symphony orchestras. He was named "Bösendorfer Artist of the Year" In 2002.^[12] As of 21 October 2009 Gasser has signed a three year contract to be the sole classical Yamaha Artist in Australia.^[13][14]

As of Feb 2011, Gasser is a staff member of the Keyboard Faculty of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in Perth, Western Australia.^[15]

Masterclasses

Gasser has taught masterclasses at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Christ's Hospital UK, Newcastle University, Australia, Hale School AU, Birmingham Conservatoire UK, Juilliard School, New York, University of Oxford UK, Australian National Academy of Music, Purcell School UK, Royal Holloway University UK, The King's School, Canterbury UK, Trinity College of Music UK, University of Cambridge, UK, Darmstadt, Germany, Central Queensland University, AU Newcastle Grammar School, Australia, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, City University of New York and the Conservatoire de Paris.

References

1. ^ ""Over 200 Famous or Infamous People and Characters with Local Connections who have Contributed to Sheffield's fame and fortune" .pdf". www.sheffield.gov.uk.. www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries. Archived from the original on 20 February 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080220173739/http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/libraries/archives-and-local-studies/local-history. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
2. ^ "Howard Mellifluous; Gasser Expert Pianist (Clive O'Connell 12 August 2003". Melbourne AGE (Fairfax Media). 12 August 2003. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/08/11/1060454129785.html. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
3. ^ "One of Gasser's Many Broadcasts from the AFCM on the ABC – Brahms Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op 60 – Mark Gasser, p; Caroline Henbest, va; Peter Rejto, vc; Ian Swensen". http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s1816168.htm. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
4. ^ "Australian Festival of Chamber Music". AFCM official website. http://www.afcm.com.au/pdf/newsevents/bio/AFCM%20Biographies%20and%20Backgrounds.pdf. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
5. ^ "Ross Edwards "The Water Circle" World Premier – Peter Garrett, n; Alexandre Oguey, ca; Riley Lee, shakuhachi; Mark Gasser, p; Catherine Hewgill, vc; Marshall McGuire, h; Ian Brunskill, Claire Edwardes, per 19'36". ABC Classic FM. ABC Classic FM. http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s1816193.htm. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
6. ^ "SUNSHINE AND STARS". "Music and Vision". Music and Vision (8 July 2006, Malcolm Tattersall, Townsville, Australia). http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/2006/07/sunshine3.htm. Retrieved 3 March 2008. 
7. ^ "Bravo Series Reviewer Clive O'Connell 1 March 2004". Melbourne AGE (Fairfax Media). 1 March 2004. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/27/1077676950748.html. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
8. ^ ""The Meaning of Life in 80 Minutes" Interview about Gasser's performance of Passacaglia on DSCH at the Wigmore Hall, London". The INDEPENDENT (The Independent & The Independent on Sunday). 16 February 2001. http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article252970.ece. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
9. ^ "Concert / Recording Review Gasser Passacaglia on DSCH Simon Jenner". Classical Music on the Web. MusicWeb-International. http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Apr01/stevenson.htm. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
10. ^ "Gasser at Carnegie Hall". The sister City program of the City of New York, INC Official Website. http://www.nyc.gov/html/rwg/mcp/html/scp/scpoct20benefitconcert.html. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
11. ^ Gasser Hits High Note at Carnegie Hall, article / Interview Telegraph Newspaper ARTS News) 26 October 2001.
12. ^ "Performers Comments / interviews on using the Stuart & Sons piano". Piano Australia PTY. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dI1eKI89HRo. Retrieved 27 November 2007. 
13. ^ "Yamaha Welcomes New Artist". YAMAHA. Yamaha Australia. http://www.yamahamusic.com.au/news/news.asp?action=view_item&resourceid=429. Retrieved 25 November 2009. 
14. ^ ""CSYO OFFICIAL SITE " Bosendorfer flew a piano especially for a performance of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 from Vienna to Sheffield."". CSYO. http://www.csyo.org.uk/finfo.asp. Retrieved 25 November 2007. ^{[dead link]}
15. ^ "WAAPA Concert Diary 2011". ECU / WAAPA. ECU WAAPA. http://www.waapa.ecu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/37293/WAAPA-Performance-Program.pdf. Retrieved 24 May 2011. 

• International Piano Quarterly, March 2004. "Mark Gasser" p24-28
• Ronald Stevenson: The Man and His Music p129, 210. A Symposium edited Colin Scott-Sutherland, Forward Lord Menuhin. — Toccata Press ISBN 0-907689-40-X Tells how Gasser is closely associated with Ronald Stevenson and has performed / premiered many works & is one of only 5 pianists to ever have performed the composer's 80-minute Passacaglia on DSCH.

External links

• Bio Gasser

Persondata
Name	Gasser, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	6 July 1972
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death