Mark Christopher Brandt was born on February 2, 1961 in San Diego, California. At age 6, Mark's family relocated to Northern Virginia, where he began to develop his musical talent and ability. His first professional club gig was at a piano bar in McLean, Virginia when he was just 16 years old. By the age of 18, Mark was playing jazz, fusion, and pop music for a living.
In 1979, Mark graduated from high school and attended Catholic University as a classical piano performance/traditional composition major, working nights and weekends as a professional keyboardist with a local jazz and pop group. After three years at CU, he entered the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where he completed his formal education studying jazz composition and arranging.
From 1977 to the present moment, Mark has continued to compose, perform, record, and teach music of every style while collaborating with musicians, visual artists, dancers, and educators from every genre and every aspect of the music industry.
Without leaving the east coast of the United States, Mark has tenaciously carved out a unique niche in the world of instrumental and improvisational music as both a reputable composer and as a jazz pianist. As an entrepreneur, and the owner of Lionheart Music, his own independent record label, Mark has recorded and successfully marketed eight albums as a leader and many of his originals are currently heard on radio stations all over the world. His newest recording, This Side of Forever, is a beautiful set of solo piano improvisations based on original themes and pieces that Mark released at the beginning of 2012.
Mark has operated a successful private instruction studio, built solely on word-of-mouth advertising, for over 20 years. He is the recent recipient of a Virginia Governor's School award for exemplary service and dedication to education, and his students continually achieve high honors and scholarships at both the high school and the collegiate level. Many of Mark's former students have successful careers in the music industry as performers, educators, producers, and engineers. Since 2008, Mark has been a sponsor for the annual Chantilly High School Invitational Jazz Festival. The festival, which for over 30 years has taken place at Chantilly High School in Virginia, is the largest of its kind on the East Coast.
Mark's jazz trio, comprised of Mark on piano, Shaun Jurek on acoustic bass, and Nate Panning on drums, is one of the busiest groups in the Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. The trio consistently maintains a five star rating on WeddingWire.com. They deliver the finest cocktail jazz and elegant dinner music that the east coast has to offer. Mark can be found performing somewhere with his trio almost every week of the year, and in September 2010, he released Worth The Wait, a CD of jazz originals which continues to sell locally and globally.
Check out where Mark will be playing next, either with his trio or with other artists.
Book Mark for gigs or hire him as your private instructor.
When Mark is not performing with his trio he can be found with some of the finest musicians the Washington D.C. area has to offer. Each of these duo settings bring a different color to the world of cocktail and dinner music. Discover the musicians and their music here.