Mark Tanner is a concert pianist, composer, B.I.F.F. adjudicator, teacher and writer. His performing and academic work takes him regularly to all five continents. Solo appearances include many recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and St John’s Smith Square, as well as St George’s Bristol, where he performed in piano duo with Alan Schiller at the Mozart 250th Anniversary Celebrations. He appears regularly on luxury cruise liners, having given in excess of 300 recitals on all of the Cunard, P&O and Saga ships.
Mark’s recordings have spotlighted many previously unrecorded works by British composers, receiving widespread critical acclaim. These include the complete piano works of Peter Wishart, Graham Fitkin’s Furniture, a double-disc of York Bowen, Constant Lambert’s Prize Fight (with Allan Schiller), Graham Lynch’s White Book, John McLeod’s Haflidi’s Pictures and Bach’s Flute Sonatas with Gillian Poznansky.
World première broadcasts have been given on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, and in 2018 Mark gave interviews on BBC Radio 3’s ‘Music Matters’ and BBC Radio Ulster’s ‘Classical Connections’. He commissioned, premiered, broadcast and recorded works by John McLeod, Philip Martin, Graham Lynch, Mervyn Burch and Frederick Stocken.
Mark has published 65 volumes of compositions, editions and arrangements for Spartan Press; his music is also published by ABRSM Publishing and Trinity College London Publishing. Mark’s edition of McLeod’s Haflidi’s Pictures is published by Europa Edition, and his edition of Peter Wishart’s complete piano works (in 3 volumes) is published by Edition Peters. Thirty of Mark’s compositions and transcriptions have appeared in the recent examination syllabuses of ABRSM, Trinity College and London College.
Mark’s book, The Mindful Pianist, was published in 2016 by Faber; it was shortlisted for Best Print Resource at the 2017 Rhinegold Music Education Awards. The book will be translated for the Chinese market in 2020. His recently commissioned book, Mindfulness in Music: Notes on finding life’s rhythm, was published in hardback and Kindle in 2018 by Leaping Hare Press; the book is also published in Spanish. In Spring 2020 Leaping Hare will be publishing Mindfulness in Sound: Tune in the world around you.
Mark’s latest book, The Piano in Black and White, will be published by Faber in Winter 2019. It is an in-depth, hands-on book for the adult learner/returner. Also in 2019, Mark joined forces with Karen Marshall in the two eagerly awaited latest Piano Trainer books for the Advanced Pianist, also to be published by Faber. Two volumes of favourite piano teaching repertoire have been released by Faber, compiled and edited by Mark, entitled Teachers' Choice. Mark has written 30 feature-length ‘Masterclass’ articles for Pianist Magazine and has published several hundred articles and reviews for International Record Review, Classical Music, Musical Opinion, Piano International, Mensa Magazine and 19th Century Music. He has also guest-edited Piano Professional, the flagship magazine of EPTA.
Mark’s PhD tackled the Hungarian composer, Franz Liszt; he was subsequently elected an honorary member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He is a member of Mensa, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and has given masterclasses across the UK, Europe and Asia. For 16 years he was Assistant Director of Music at Taunton School, Somerset. In 2018 Mark was a keyboard judge for the BBC Young Musician and the EPTA Piano Competition; he was also Composer in Residence at Chetham’s International Piano Summer School and gave workshops in the Cayman Islands. In 2019, as well as running his own ever-popular piano summer school at Jackdaws, Somerset, Mark directed a series of CPD events held at Chetham's School and the RNCM in Manchester; he also co-directed the EPTA Teachers Course at Chichester University and performed with Gillian Poznansky on the Queen Mary 2. In 2019/2020 he is examining in China, India, Turkey and USA.
For ABRSM, Mark has undertaken 40 tours to all five continents, examining grades and diplomas; he is also a Moderator, Trainer, Reader and International Presenter. Among recent ABRSM publications, Mark co-authored Teaching Notes to accompany the 2017-18 piano syllabus; he also composed several pieces for inclusion in their popular new series, Piano Star.
