About Mark
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Mark has a Bachelor of Music from the University of British Columbia, and Bachelor of Arts from Thomas Aquinas College in California. Since 2021, Mark has been based in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He and his wife Catherine have been blessed with nine children and nine grandchildren.
Musical Career
Performer
Up until 2020, Mark was most recognized for his immensely popular appearances singing the national anthem at NHL games, and was commonly referred to as “Mr. O Canada”. As the Signature Performer of the Vancouver Canucks, Mark had won the hearts of hockey fans and all Canadians from coast to coast by holding the microphone to the crowd and encouraging them to sing along to his solid and unabashedly patriotic version of the Canadian national anthem. Mark’s also known for continuing to perform no matter what happens!
Though retired from opera, Mark continues to sing at both public and private events and recitals.
Teacher/Conductor/Clinician
Mark has been a private voice instructor since 1984, and a Parochial Catholic Church Choir & Schola director for over 40 years. He currently gives voice instruction at his home studio in Omaha, NE. For 20 years, between 2000 and 2021, he directed Schola Davidica & Chorus Faustinae at Holy Family Parish (FSSP) in Vancouver, BC, and he has founded and directs the Domus Mariae Ensemble, a vocal group based in Omaha that currently sings Gregorian Chant, polyphony, and hymns for certain local Latin Masses. Mark also teaches and directs a children’s music class & choir at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Omaha, primarily employing the Ward Method.
Mark has been a vocal clinician and consultant for various school, barbershop, community & church choirs. Most notably and currently, Mark has been vocal coach to the monks at Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma since 2008, as well as contributing to their Gregorian Chant course Laus in Ecclesia and to their CD Rorate Coeli.
In the summer of 2019, Mark led the “professional” section at the 2019 BC Sacred Music Symposium. The Symposium featured some of Mark’s compositions.
Composer
Click here to learn about Mark’s composing. Mark continues to add to his extensive repertoire of musical compositions and arrangements, persevering in his mission to bring souls closer to God through the creation of new compositions grounded in the great musical tradition of the west.
Learn how YOU can commission a motet, Mass setting, or other type of composition to be written by Mark. May God bless you for your support!
Gregorian Chant
Although Mark has sung and been dedicated to Gregorian Chant for over 40 years, since 2022 it has become a more particular concentration in his projects. 2023 saw the launch of Mark’s podcast ChantHacks, which you can find on your favorite platform by clicking here. In this podcast, Mark shares the Gregorian Chant “hacks” he’s picked up over his years of experience, using the Solesmes Method as taught by Dom Mocqereau and Dom Gajard (commonly denominated the “Old Solesmes Method”). The goal of this podcast is to help you get singing Gregorian Chant WELL, sooner rather than later!
In July of 2023, Mark led the Laus in Ecclesia: Level 2 workshop at Clear Creek Abbey’s week-long summer instruction course in Laus in Ecclesia. He will be leading this workshop again in July 2024.
2023 also saw the beginning of the in-person course Domus Mariae, which recently concluded in Omaha. Click here for more information!
Other Activities
Mark has taught music and mathematics at the elementary and high school level, as well as logic and ethics at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary (FSSP), where he worked closely with Dr. Dennis McInery. Mark has also been a featured speaker at musical and corporate events.