Past Projects

The epic story of the Scots - Irish migration from the Lowlands of Scotland in the early 1600s to the northern counties of Ireland, and subsequently on to the USA. These people became the fabric of American society producing 17 presidents.

Mark was musical director and music associate for this project, which was filmed by the BBC in May 2004 for subsequent broadcasts on PBS in August 2005. He was responsible for all the musical arrangements, training the 300 strong choir and taking cast and band rehearsals.
comp. John Anderson; dir. Ian McElhinney; Artistic Consultant Anthony van Laast

Mark was Musical Director with the Irish Dance phenomenon Riverdance – The Show from 2000 – 2004. Of the two existing shows at the time, The Lagan was based solely in America while the larger The Liffey production with which Mark toured, travelled the rest of the world.

Often playing to 7000 seats for up to three weeks, 8 performances a week in one single city, The Liffey visited all the major European cities including Paris, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Berlin – together with all the Scandinavian capitals, and some Eastern European countries.

In addition, Mark travelled with the show to Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and China – where it was premiered in The Great Hall of the People, Tiannamin Square, Beijing, in the presence of the Irish President, Mary McAleese.

Written and conceived with Belfast playwright Martin Lynch, the play is set in contemporary Belfast against the background of rehearsals for a production of Bizet’s Carmen. Local people involved in the production object to the opera being set in troubles-ridden 1969 Belfast, their militancy leading to a rethink of the production. The irony is that with every effort to achieve a politically free production, they end up with one which is entirely that.

Commissioned by Castlereagh Borough Council to celebrate the Millennium, this huge piece featured 1000 piece choir and the Ulster Orchestra and was staged for two performances in Dundonald Ice Bowl near Belfast on 8th April 2000.Mark conducted both performances.

The concept evolved from a questionnaire distributed to all schools in the borough in October 1999. The answers to questions such as ‘What would you change about the world?’ or ‘What does the Millennium mean to you?’ generated a variety of responses. However, the young people of Castlereagh were certain about three things. They wanted Peace, not only in Northern Ireland but across the world; they wanted to alleviate poverty and starvation; and they expressed great concern about the damage we inflict on our environment.

These three subjects together with the implications of a work written in the year 2000 were to become the structure and inspiration behind all the material. The work is a combination of original songs and instrumental sequences with carefully chosen orchestral repertoire excerpts accompanied by visual images and biblical text.

Commissioned by Dockward Community Theatre Company, this full scale musical traced the life of Henry Joy McCracken and his part in the 1798 United Irishmen rising against the English. The production was staged in 1997.

Mark has been involved in the writing of and musical direction of dozens of children’s shows and pantomimes.