About James Mark

James was born and raised on the West Coast of Canada and has been studying music since the age of four. In high school he performed with some of his heroes, Ashley MacIsaac, Spirit of the West and also recorded an album with The Irish Rovers. He had a chair in the Vancouver Island Symphony for two years before heading east to begin his undergraduate degree.

At York University in Toronto he studied jazz and classical performance as well as composition and accompaniment for dance. He established himself as an excellent performer and improviser and frequented the Toronto club circuit. His composition and live dance accompaniment was in high demand by students and faculty and, as a result, he composed and performed for many professional dance shows throughout Toronto. He was also on staff as a dance accompanist for the School of Dance. He graduated in June of 2002 with an honors BFA cum laude and was presented with an award for outstanding achievement in the fine arts.

James moved to California after graduation to work on his master's at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). While in residence, he was very active, performing in student and faculty ensembles. He had the opportunity to play at the international press opening of the Roy Edna Disney CalArts Theatre (REDCAT) with the New Century Players (NCP) and was also featured at the Opening gala dinner at the REDCAT grand opening. He performed many other concerts at REDCAT in various ensembles during the opening season and he was heavily involved with the dance department playing for technique classes and writing for student and faculty productions. After finishing his Master's in Fine Arts, he became a member of the CalArts faculty and taught theory and musicianship as well as continuing his work in the dance department.

In May of 2005, he moved back to his hometown of Nanaimo in western Canada. Since back he's been performing frequently with the Vancouver Island Symphony, has been hired as violin performance faculty at the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music, has been hired as sessional faculty at Malaspina University-College and continues to write for film and television.