Mark Eager

Mobile telephone number: 07850 374018
Email address: mark@markeager.com
For more information please visit www.markeager.com

Mark Eager has been at the forefront of music making in the UK since leaving the Royal Academy of Music with their highest award. Initially Mark was a London freelance trombone player and then in 1993 was offered the position of Principal Trombone with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

The BBC commissioned two new Trombone Concertos for Mark by John Pickard ‘The Spindle of Necessity’ 1998 and Alun Hoddinott ‘Trombone Concerto’ 2004. Both were recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio 3 to much critical acclaim. The International Trombone Association bestowed on Mark the ‘Orchestral Recognition Award’ and he received an ARAM from the Royal Academy of Music for the excellence of his playing and the promotion of the Trombone as a solo instrument.

Mark studied violin and piano from an early age and has conducted since his late teens, always being regarded as a rounded musician. In 2004 he decided that conducting was to take a central role in his career and he won a coveted place on the Orkney Conductor’s Course during the St. Magnus Festival. Whilst there he studied with Martyn Brabbins and Charles Peebles, conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Paragon Ensemble and the St. Magnus Festival Chorus.

Notable recent successes include a highly acclaimed performance of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale with Narrator/Actor Timothy West and the Southbank Sinfonia, a DVD with a chamber ensemble from BBCNOW and concerts with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra.

Mark performed his debut with the Welsh Sinfonia at the ‘Mozart meets Jenkins’ charity concert last year, in the presence of Karl Jenkins, who subsequently became their president. Inspired by Mark’s clear and highly musical direction, the orchestra has since presented some inspired performances of classical repertory, including its ‘Mostly Mozart’ concert in the Dinas Powys Music Festival and String classics in Aberystwyth and Brecon.With the help of the Arts Council of Wales, Mark and the Welsh Sinfonia are developing the orchestra’s ‘PLAY’ (Performance, Learning, And the Young) projects for schools and instigating new initiatives aimed at regenerating interest in orchestras throughout the nation.

Mark enjoys working with young people as a lecturer at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the University of Bristol and as an examiner for ‘Trinity Guildhall’. Mark works with several youth ensembles including holding the post of Music Director of Hertfordshire County Youth Wind Orchestra and is involved in education projects for BBC TV and Radio.