Biography of Mark McKnight

Mark McKnight is a 26 year old guitarist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mark began his studies in jazz when awarded a scholarship from the Arts Council of Ireland to study at the Skidmore Jazz Institute, NY.

The following year Mark attended Berklee College of Music on scholarship from which he graduated in 2006, receiving awards for outstanding musicianship.

Since returning to Ireland Mark has established himself as one of the country's leading young jazz musicians and in addition played with some of the island's most respected classical and concert orchestras, being featured as a soloist in national broadcasts with both the Ulster and RTE Concert Orchestras.

Mark has performed/recorded with artists such as Will Vinson, Jason Rebello, Sam Yahel, Mark Ferber, Darren Beckett, Julian Siegel and Terell Stafford and at the London, Galway, Glasgow and Montreux Jazz Festivals to name only a few and performed across Europe.

In July 2008 Mark was awarded 3rd place in the prestigious Montreux International Jazz Guitar Competition, an event open to all guitarists under 30 years of age worldwide.

In Nov 2008 after receiving a grant from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Mark traveled to NYC to record his debut album as a leader. Entitled "Overnight", this recording features the playing of Sam Yahel (piano), Will Vinson (alto), Mark Ferber (drums) and Euan Burton (bass).
The album has received many great reviews and radio play on BBC Radio 3 (Jazz LineUp), BBC Radio Ulster and RTE.

In December 2008 Mark received a merit based award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund which supports his weekly gig every Tuesday evening at Belfast's Errigle Inn (Ormeau Rd) and has allowed him to feature many of the UK and Ireland's leading emerging and established jazz musicians.

Mark continues to perform throughout the UK and Ireland on a regular basis and plans to record a further album in late 2009. In addition to this he is currently completing a PhD in Jazz Performance.

For inquiries or booking please contact:

info@markmcknight.co.uk