Improvisation

With extensive experience improvising music in many styles, Mark is an accomplished improvisational theatre musical director. In this unique work, he improvises underscores for scenes and, working with the actors, he improvises songs, musicals and operas. Mark also develops and teaches classes on singing improvised songs and performing improvised accompaniment, and you’ll occasionally see him away from the keyboard doing non-musical improv. He spent more than a decade as musical director for The Mop & Bucket Co. and has performed and taught for multiple festivals and groups.

Interested in having Mark provide improvised music for you? Contact Mark to discuss your needs.

Improv Theatre CV and Testimonials

Testimonials

  • Performers:
    • “The best musical director I’ve ever worked with. Better than the ones I worked with at Second City.”
    • “The best collaborator I’ve ever worked with.”
    • “A genius. One of three musical directors in the world I trust to pull of Spontaneous Broadway.”
    • “I always feel so supported when I work with you.”
    • “When a song comes up and I hear what you do with it, more than with anyone else I’ve seen, I find myself thinking, yup, that’s what that song is supposed to sound like.”
  • Students:
    • “I don’t think we could have a better music teacher.”
    • “Mark is an effervescent butterfly of musical genius and eternal patience.”
    • “Mark can teach you more about yourself through his improv class.”
    • “I loved every aspect of it! It was well put together and each night I learned something new.”
    • “You make it so easy to just let people be themselves and experiment. I like how you scaffolded the activities to add to what we just learned… Overall lovedddddddd the class and I hope I am able to work with you again in the future. You are an extremely talented musician!”

Spontaneous Broadway excerpts (long-form musical improv format, musical director 2010-2020; signature format of the Mop & Bucket Co., Schenectady, NY; co-created by Mopco’s co-director Kat Koppett at Freestytle Repertory Theatre, NYC, 1995:

Short-form musical improv game excerpts (Mop & Bucket Co., musical director 2010-2021):

Recurring introductory musical improv teaching (2011-2020):

Non-musical improv theatre actor (2017-2021)

Select additional musical improv teaching and performances:

  • Private musical improv coaching (2019-Present) — live in-person and online
  • Long Form Improv Jam and Musical Improv Jam, InterCity Improv, guest musical director, multiple online performances (2020-2021) (sample)
  • Musical improv four-day residency, Contemporary Theatre Company (CTC), Wakefield, RI (September 2021)
  • Musical Improv Accompaniment Workshop course (July-August 2020)
    • Based in part on Tune Toolkit, an original piano composition & improvisation program created for the Simply Music Piano Method
  • Strengths, Synergy and Semi-Spontaneous Songs; Applied Improvisation Network World Conference, Stony Brook, NY (August 2019)
  • Musical improv workshops and performances, four-day residency, CTC (June 2019)
  • Ocean State Improv Festival 2019, CTC (June 2019)
    • Sing – Spontaneous – Simple, musical improv two-day intensive with student showcase
    • Guest musical director for multiple performances including the closing Duo Bracket Challenge
  • Musical improv workshops and performances, week-long residency, CTC (August 2018)
  • NEMIX: New England Musical Improv Experience, ImprovBoston (July 2018)
  • Ocean State Improv Festival 2018, CTC (June 2018)
    • Songcraft, musical improv two-day intensive with student showcase
    • Spontaneous Broadway performance with the Mop & Bucket Co.
    • The Benchwarmers, three improv pianists playing and singing together (June 2018)
    • Guest musical director for multiple performances including the closing Duo Bracket Challenge
  • Musical improv workshops and performances, week-long residency, CTC (August 2017)
  • Ocean State Improv Festival 2017, CTC (June 2017)
  • Albany Improv Festival 2017 (April 2017)
  • Musical improv workshops and performances, weekend residency, CTC (March 2017)
  • New York Musical Improv Festival (October 2016) — Spontaneous Broadway performance with the Mop & Bucket Co.
  • Albany Improv Festival 2016 (April 2016) — performed with the Mop & Bucket Co.
  • ImprovWorks, Mystic, CT (July 2012) — musical improv workshop
  • Musical Improv Master Class, one-day intensive, Mop & Bucket Co. (July 2011)

Select additional piano/songwriting performances/classes: