Mark Wood

“I love the H4! When I work with schools and teachers around the country, we use it to listen back to our performance’s and it is so helpful as a learning tool to critique and analyze our work.”

“Thunderwood”
by Mark and Elijah Wood

Mark Wood: 7 String Viper Violin and Bass
Elijah Wood: Drums

Recorded on the Zoom H4
October 2007

Mark Wood Bio:

In an industry where originality is a highly prized commodity, recording artist, performer, producer, inventor and Emmy-winning composer Mark Wood is truly an original. He began his career with a full scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School in New York and had the privilege of studying under Maestro Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Program.

Mark is currently starring in a national television ad campaign for Pepsi. The music track is a Kanye West produced hip hop version of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” (featuring the rapper Nas).

As an electric violinist, Mark Wood is a highly acclaimed international recording artist who has released six CDs of his highly original music, showcasing his unique approach to the electric violin playing on his own line of patented instruments; he has toured and recorded with many of the industry’s most prominent performers. In addition to touring with Celine Dion, where he was featured on a duet with her on the song “To Love You More,” Mark was also string arranger on two of her records. He was the featured violinist in Billy Joel’s video “All About Soul,” appeared on “MTV Unplugged” with Lenny Kravitz, and has performed with Everclear in a live special for New York radio station WPLJ- FM. Mark is also lead violinist and string conductor with the multi-platinum-selling symphonic rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who are about to embark on their eighth sold- out arena tour – adding Madison Square Garden in NYC to the list of sold-out venues at which they have performed.

Mark is putting finishing touches on his latest solo release and tours with an amazing group of musicians – his band features members of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and vocalist Laura Kaye, who collaborates with Mark and appears on several of his CDs.

In the capacity of composer, Mark started Mark Wood Music Productions, a company which focuses mainly on creating dramatic and inspirational pieces of music for television and film markets (particularly sports productions, network specials, and commercial spots) and has earned Mark a number of impressive video and audio production credits. He received his first Emmy award for music he composed for CBS-TV’s coverage of the 2002 Tour de France bicycle race, and has received three additional Emmy nominations; for music for the Winter Olympics on CBS-TV and a documentary for ABC-TV; the most recent nomination for music for the 2003 Tour de France. The client list of Mark Wood Music Productions includes many of the major television networks as well as several world famous recording artists. One of Mark’s commissions was from The Juilliard School, who enlisted him to compose a piece for their electric string quartet – “Nest of Vipers” has its world premiere in April 2003 at Lincoln Center in New York City. His latest concerto is for electric violin and orchestra; the 15-minute groundbreaking piece entitled “Innocence to Enlightenment” had its debut in August 2003.

As an inventor, Mark established Wood Violins, a company whose mission is to make Mark’s incredible instruments available to the general public. Wood Violins has become highly successful in custom manufacturing and selling the revolutionary patented Viper electric violin, which features a self-supporting mechanism, which enables the player to play without using a chin rest or shoulder pad. The company stands behind its claim to have made the most important change to the violin in 400 years.

As educators across the country are quickly catching on to the importance of incorporating alternative teaching methods into their curriculum, Mark’s “Electrify Your Strings” series of music education programs have become enormously successful and in demand. EYS has really captured the media’s attention and has been featured on several national broadcasts of CBS Evening News, along with segments on ABC-TV, NBC-TV, CNN, and many others. EYS has been brought to over 100 schools in the US, including the Berklee School of Music, The Juilliard School, Oneonta University, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and many others. In addition, along with such formidable colleagues as Arnold Steinhardt of the Guarnari String Quartet, Isaac Stern, and Yo Yo Ma, he is an instructor of a special course at the annual Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camps held in Nashville and San Diego.

Mark is working on a definitive method book for the electric violin that will be published by Cherry Lane Publishing in late 2007.

www.markwoodmusic.com