Mark
Ekstrom
Solo
Piano
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BIOGRAPHY |
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Mark's piano career had an inauspicious start when, at the age of three, composing wildly, he chipped the edges of 20 piano keys. Nonetheless, his family encouraged musical interests. Father, Mike Youngs, sang in folk groups, and Aunt Betty Endress provided first lessons. Compositions took a turn to ska and dance music for a teenage band, "Nothing Personal." Mark played guitar and performed at Sacramento clubs and dances. Serious study of piano performance and composition began at Stanford University, where Mark majored in quantitative economics, graduating in 1988. Through his college years, Mark played melodic, contemplative pieces in the style of George Winston. He entertained fellow |
students and resort guests while studying in Vienna and working in southern Germany. Mark continued to develop his style while in the desert of Tucson, Arizona, where he worked in marketing and earned an MBA. A move to Maine brought inspiration from the coastline. Mark began giving regular public performances at Java Joe's, a coffeehouse in the Old Port district of Portland, Maine. Music crescendoed and decrescendoed with the roars of the cappuccino machine. In 1998, Mark and his wife and daughter moved to Williamsburg, Virginia. There Mark polished his compositions, thirteen original piano solos, and produced his first album. First Night is his debut CD release. |
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