Mackay is now home to internationally acclaimed piano virtuoso Mark Gasser.

Mark has travelled the world as a concert pianist and performed and broadcast in the world’s leading concert venues, from Prague to Salzburg, Moscow to New York.

This highly acclaimed concert pianist is now calling Mackay home and is enjoying his new role as Lecturer in Music at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music (CQCM).

With a wide press following, he has been described by Paul Driver (Sunday Times) as having “a staggering technical command”, Chris Morley (Birmingham Post) describes him as “Scintillating and poetic ... totally at one with his instrument”. Richard Dain also wrote of him “I have no doubt we are hearing one of the great pianists of the next century”. BBC Music Magazine also said “...quite simply, nobody can play like him”.

He was born in Sheffield, England in 1972, but has lived for the last 13 years in London.

Mark studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire and the Royal Academy of Music. He is primarily a soloist but occasionally tours in the company of his friend and virtuoso cellist, Mats Lidstrom.

He has performed and broadcast on 5 continents and over the last decade he has performed in over 80 countries, included 13 visits to Australia where, amongst other things, he has performed and given masterclasses in all the major conservatoires.

In the past year Mark has spent an enormous amount of time travelling the world and performing in most of the major concert halls and festivals (including the Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall). Tour locations have included Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, the Caribbean, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Scotland, England and Prague.

Although Mark has taken up the position of Lecturer with the CQCM, he will still remain very active as a performer. He is playing in Sydney at the beginning of April, will feature at the annual Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville in early July and later this year will travel to Salzburg, birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, to play the complete Mozart Sonatas.

Mark is excited to be part of the CQCM and wants Mackay people to realise how fortunate they are to have such a fabulous venue and resource right here.

“I’ve played and lectured at most of the big music schools around the world, (from The Juilliard and UCNY to the Moscow and Sydney Conservatoires), and the calibre of the staff and the facilities, practice rooms and resources available to students of the CQCM are as good as any,” said Mark.

“While I’m here at the CQCM I hope to inspire the students and show them that they can achieve anything with hard work, a determination to succeed and a passion for what they do ... they are, after all the future of my art and I hope I can pass something on to them".

“I’d like to help put the CQCM on the map, internationally, and to make classical music more accessible within Mackay as a whole”, said Mark. “I’d also like to work with kids in the local community to develop their love of music".

Having spent most of his life in or around London, Mark is a newcomer to the regional delights of Mackay, and the lack of public transport. Where Mark once jumped on the tube or hailed a taxi, it’s proving a little difficult to get around Mackay.

“Without a drivers licence it’s quite an effort to get around, but I’m managing,” he said. “A driver’s licence is definitely on the agenda, but most friends say they wouldn’t get in a car with me as they think I’d be a really dangerous driver.”.

Photo above and left: Mackay’s CQCM is now home to internationally acclaimed concert pianist Mark Gasser.