Mark was my first jazz-piano teacher I have ever had when I started getting into Jazz in my teenage years. I remember my piano lessons with him being incredibly inspiring and refreshing, each week I went home with lots of music to check out and a lot of things to work on and reflect upon. Mark offered a broad range of teaching methods in his lessons, being goal-oriented while keeping the lessons fun and engaging. He helped me prepare for music competitions such as the National Youth Jazz Competition in Tauranga or the Auckland School Jazz Competition by going through the repertoire and showing me how to accompany and improvise over the pieces. I can strongly recommend Mark to anyone who’s eager to get Jazz-Piano lessons, for beginners as advanced pianist alike.
Leon Hattori (Conservatory of Cologne, International Scholarship Ensemble Award Winner (similar to the Monk Institute) in Mainz, Germany
I studied with Mark during my high school years. Mark introduced me to many fundamental concepts of jazz which had help me tremendously in preparing me for my undergraduate study at the University of North Texas. Not only that we covered the fundamentals, but Mark also introduced me to the music of many contemporary jazz pianists, especially the music of Brad Mehldau. I was so inspired to come to my lesson every week: the lessons were fun and very challenging. Mark’s teaching had prepared me to understand the process of actually learning the jazz style – we would be learning tunes, learning the voicings, playing together on two pianos (we had two grand pianos at the time!), and most importantly, transcribing. I started to learn and transcribe the solos of many jazz greats during my study with him. I would highly recommend anyone interested in learning jazz piano to study with Mark. He is the teacher who is very passionate about jazz music – every lesson is a discovery of something new and inspiring.
Tanakrit (https://www.tanakritmusic.com/)
I am very pleased to be a student of Mark’s. I leave every lesson with a wealth of knowledge and a new found enthusiasm to learn more about jazz. Not only is he an incredibly talented musician himself, but is an inspiration to me as a student. Mark has an amazing ability to make complex musical concepts understandable and incorporates the fun, knowledge and the discipline necessary to learn.
Tam Leach