J Mark Music

Several of my arrangements and compositions are available for download on Sheet Music Plus www.sheetmusicplus.com:

For Clarinet Quartet:

Beethoven: a beautiful Adagio from the Sextet for Horns and Strings Op. 81b, arranged for 4 Bb clarinets

Mendelssohn: Spinning Song, a virtuosic (but playable) piece from the Songs Without Words, Op. 67 No. 4

For SATB a capella Choir:

An original Motet: O King All Glorious, text from the Book of Common Prayer Penitential Service for Good Friday. Medium difficulty with divisi voice parts.

Three Choral Amens (also original); Appropriate for the end of a service. Easy.

Look for additions which will be added soon!

I am really enjoying teaching privately, and I am having great and gratifying success with my students. I would like to expand my studio, and am interested in working with clarinet and saxophone  students of all levels.

I have also been coaching/tutoring theory and ear training at Mount Allison University, and also have prepared students for their written and aural RCM exams.

I would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in taking lessons or doing coaching; just email jmark@mta.ca or call (506)224-0070.

In 2015 I took on a very young student, Simone, who was interested in the clarinet but was too small for her fingers  to cover the holes. I wanted to take advantage of her enthusiasm, so I started her on my Eb clarinet, which proved to be just the right size (Simone was 8 years old).  She has progressed beautifully and will resume in September playing in both chalemeau and clarion registers.

I wanted to put her into the Music Festival but couldn’t find anything suitable for lower register Eb clarinet. I arranged She’s Like the Swallow, and it came out very well. Accompanied by Penelope Mark, Simone performed it at a pre-festival concert, the festival, where she got an 89, and at the final concert, .  The range for this arrangement is from low G to throat Bb. Notated an octave higher it would be very good for a young alto saxophone player, too. Contact me if you want to get a copy.

I am proud to be a member of the Beausejour Wind Quintet, which has performed at the Classics by the Bay Festival in Parrsboro, NS for the past four seasons.

The members are Anne Varner, flute, Belinda Code, oboe, Iris Frazer, bassoon, William Costin, horn and myself, clarinet.

This year’s programme was very well attended despite the cold, rainy weather, and enthusiastically applauded!  Our programme was: Mozart’s Overture to the Magic Flute, arranged by Linckelmann, Kleine Kammermusik by Paul Hindemith, Trois pièces brèves by Jacques Ibert, Tarantweeka (ode to a hyperactive cat!) by James Grant Code, Le tombeau de Ravel by Maurice Ravel, transcribed by Mason Jones, and Dance Suite by Norman Hallam.

All the members of the Beausejour Quintet are also members of Musica Viva NB. We are available for concerts and background music and you can contact me or Anne Varner (caavarner@gmail.com) to discuss details.