Andrew Mark, cello
Mark received his Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, graduating with top honors in both performance and academics. His principal teachers have included Bernard Greenhouse, Laurence Lesser, Colin Carr, and George Neikrug.
Mark is an active member of Boston's classical music community. He has performed and recorded with such groups as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Orchestra since 1989. In 2018 he became the cellist of the Portland String Quartet which was presented Chamber Music America’s Acclaim Award in recognition of outstanding service and cultural contributions to the community throughout its fifty-year history.
Mark continues an ongoing commitment to teaching and is a member of the music faculties of the New England Conservatory Preparatory Division, and The Boston Conservatory where he served as Chair of the String Department from 1995 – 2014. Since 2016, he has been the cello instructor for the highly successful summer Program for the Exceptionally Gifted at the Heifetz Institute in Staunton, Virginia. Mark is the recipient of the 2008 Studio Teacher of the Year Award presented by the Massachusetts chapter of the American String Teachers Association and in 2009 was presented an award for outstanding contributions to string teaching by the Foundation for the Advancement of String Education.
Brenda Moore Miller, piano
Miller has been an active performer and teacher of piano and chamber music since completing her Master's Degree in Piano Performance at New England Conservatory. It was there that she met Andrew Mark and they began a long musical collaboration together, performing in the Boston, New England and New York areas and, as Artistic Ambassadors, traveled to eleven countries over four years to present concerts, lectures and master classes.
Brenda has also enjoyed immensely her more recent collaboration with flutist Suzanne Bona. Suzanne is the creator and host of "Sunday Baroque", a radio program heard on many National Public Radio stations throughout the country. They have performed together in Deerfield, MA, Hartford CT, Phoenix, AZ and at the Mendelssohn Museum in Leipzig, Germany. Their programs often highlight women composers.
She now lives in Western Massachusetts and has taught and performed at UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Hampshire College, Deerfield Academy and other venues in the area. She loves being a piano instructor and chamber music coach to all of her many students of all ages.
She is a coordinating member of the Valley Piano Teachers' Association and serves as Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, MA, where she presents music weekly and directs their choir.
Brenda is particularly grateful and proud of her family and friends and appreciates all of the support they continue to provide in her life as a musician. Many thanks to Andy for his enduring commitment to making music and his friendship.
