New York-based guitarist Mark Tonelli is an award-winning
guitarist, composer, educator, and author.
Mark has enjoyed a busy career performing with artists such
as Clay Aiken, Jon Faddis, Rita Moreno, Carol Channing, Lynn Seaton, Denis
DeBlasio, Greg Bissonette, Ed Soph, Andrea McArdle,
Al Martino, Bobby Rydell, The Coasters, and The Platters.
Mark has been leading his own group and appearing as a
sideman with other artists for two decades.
He has performed at the 55 Bar, Cornelia St. Cafe, St.
Peter's Church, The Ft. Worth Jazz Festival, The Cottonwood Art Festival, The
Dallas Museum of Art, and in numerous other venues.
He has performed in Russia, Holland, and Canada and
throughout the United States.
Mark's group was featured on the award-winning web show The Digital Cafe
Tour.
The group has released two
critically-acclaimed CD's, The Mark Tonelli Group and Chasing The Myth on the
MTonal Music label.
The group's
third CD, The Thread, is due for release in 2011.
Mark is the guitarist for the West Point Band's Jazz
Knights.
He has performed with the
Jazz Knights at
Blues Alley, Jazz
Showcase, Kennedy Center, Jazz Kitchen, Count Basie Theatre, The Rock n Roll
Hall of Fame, The Midwest Clinic, and in many other venues.
With the Jazz Knights Mark has
performed with a who's who of jazz legends such as Benny Golson, Billy Cobham,
Bobby Watson, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, John Riley,
and Adam Nussbaum.
Mark's music has been featured on National Public Radio
(NPR), and he has won composition awards from Billboard Magazine and The Great
American Song Contest. His many
arrangements for the Jazz Knights are performed regularly in concert and appear
on their CD's.
When not performing, Mark is a dedicated educator. He is currently adjunct professor of
music at St. Thomas Aquinas
College in Sparkill, NY. He has
been associate professor of music at Collin County College and North Lake
College in the Dallas, TX area.
Mark is the author of the MTonal Guitar Method. He has
written instructional articles forGuitar Player, Downbeat, The Jazz Education
Journal, JazzEd, Jazz Improv, Just Jazz Guitar, and The Instrumentalist. He
also wrote a monthly guitar instructional column for the Texas music magazine
Origin.
Mark earned a bachelor of music in jazz performance from
William Paterson University and a Master of Music degree from the University of
North Texas, where he was a member of the award-winning Two O'Clock Lab Band
and a teaching fellow in the area of jazz studies. He is completing his doctor of education degree at Columbia
University Teachers College.
