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The American pianist, Mark Laverty, began playing the piano at the age of 5. He has studied with Jane Allen at the St. Louis Conservatory, Veronica Jochum at the New England Conservatory, and in 1989 earned the Bachelor of Music Education Degree (Magna Cum Laude) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In 1993, Laverty completed his Master’s Degree in Piano and Chamber Music at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where he was a student of legendary concert pianist Ruth Slenczynska. A competition winner at SIU-E, he performed Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also in 1993, he was chosen by the University of Miami (Florida) to attend their Music Institute in Salzburg, Austria. This included studies in piano and vocal accompaniment, as well as recital performances in Salzburg. In 1995, Laverty won the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, and performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Other concerto performances include W.A. Mozart's Concerto No. 19 in F Major with the University of Missouri - St. Louis Orchestra, and Franz Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy with the St. Louis Community College Orchestra at Florissant Valley.
Performances since then have included concerts in St. Louis, a recital with Soprano Karen Fergurson, winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in New York City, and recitals with violinist Manuel Ramos and other members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2001 Mark Laverty made his debut in the UK with all-J.S. Bach concerts in London and Cardiff, Wales. In 2002, he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City where he was a student of John McIntyre. In 2000, he was a finalist in the UM-KC Concerto Competition. In the summer of 2003, he returned to Europe for recitals in the UK, Salzburg, Austria, and Germany. In 2004, he won First Place in the Robert M. Spire Piano Competition held at the University of Nebraska - Omaha.
Pianist Mark Lavertyhas delighted audiences in the USA and Europe. Performances for the 2004-2005 season included recitals in St. Louis, London, Cardiff, New York, Wisconsin, and performances of Johannes Brahms' Concerto No. 1 with the Belleville Philharmonic, and S. Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 with the Clayton and Alton Symphony Orchestras. In 2006, he performed at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and served as adjunct piano faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. Concerts in 2006-2007 included recitals in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, and San Francisco, featuring music by W.A. Mozart in recognition of the 250th anniversary of his birth. In addition, he performed concertos by Frédéric Chopin, Tchaikovsky and J. Brahms with the Alton, Illinois, University City, Missouri, and Town and Country Symphony Orchestras in 2007.
Mark Laverty's debut all-J.S. Bach CD, Music of Bach, recorded at Tanglewood, was released in February 2007. Recitals for 2007-2008 were scheduled for Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego, and Wausau. Mark Laverty is also Music Director of Zion Lutheran Church in Maryland Heights, Missouri, and resides in Chesterfield, a suburb of St. Louis, where he is head of the Chesterfield Piano Studio. |
