Mark Buller was born in 1986 in Maryland. He began his musical studies at a young age, studying percussion at the Peabody Preparatory with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra percussionist Leo LePage. He went on to study piano with respected pedagogue Jan Puckett. Mark earned a bachelor’s degree in piano performance at Bob Jones University, where he studied with David Lehman. He went on to earn a graduate degree in composition from BJU, studying with Dan Forrest. In the summer of 2010 he participated in the highSCORE Festival in Pavia, Italy, where he studied with Christopher Theofanidis and Giovanni Albini and had lessons with Paul Moravec and Mario Garuti. Mark, who has also studied briefly with Grammy award-winning composer Richard Danielpour, is a recipient of several awards, including the 2010 Vanguard Premieres Choral Composition Contest (Emerging Composers Category) and two ASCAPlus Awards. He has twice been a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. Mark is currently pursuing his DMA in composition at the University of Houston Moores School of Music, where he studies with Rob Smith.
Mark’s music has been performed at universities and concert halls across the nation and internationally. Recent performances include Landscapes at Florida State University; Ayres and Madrigals, Book One at Roosevelt University in Chicago and Munich’s art space Movimento; Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night near Los Angeles; Canticle for solo cello, a movement from the Second String Quartet, and EDGE (quintet for electric guitar and strings) in Pavia, Italy; Connect at the Gershwin Hotel in New York City; and Dark Watches with British pianist James Bester at The Cell Theater in NYC. Upcoming performances include the Chamber Symphony No. 1 ‘Night Music’ in Greenville, South Carolina, and the Piano Trio No. 2 ‘Idioms’ in Houston, Texas.
Awards and honors:
Recipient, 2011 Jayne and Albert H. Wiggins Music Scholarship
Winner, 2010 Vanguard Premieres Choral Composition Contest (Emerging Composers Category) (Sicut Cervus)
Finalist, 2010 and 2011 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards
Recipient, 2009 and 2010 ASCAPlus Award
Winner (first prize), 2004 Mark and Kirk Elvy Memorial Piano Solo Competition
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