Mark Bridges
cello
www.markbridgesmusic.com
A native of the Boston area, Mark received his bachelors degree in cello performance from Boston University where he studied cello with David Soyer and Leslie Parnas. He received his M.M. and Orchestral Studies Diploma from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliot and served as an orchestral fellow and member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he was a student of Uri Vardi.
Mark has been a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra cello section since 2016 and was appointed assistant principal cello in September 2018, a position he also holds with the Madison Opera. He also appears frequently with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and many other local groups. As a chamber musician, he has worked with principal musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Pro Arte and Brentano String Quartets among others and has attended the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and the Banff Chamber Music residency and has performed with members of the Muir, Pro Arte, and Borodin String Quartets. He is a core member of Madison's Willy Street Chamber Players and has been a frequent artist at the Token Creek festival and has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre(2008, 2014) and at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2016) and Token Creek (2019) as a member of High Plains with composer Scott Morgan.
Mark is passionate about teaching and has been running a diverse private studio in Madison, since 2010. During that time he has been a chamber music and sectional coach for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and has been on the teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.
Mark plays on a beautiful cello by Michele Ashley made in 2021. The cello is modeled after the “Girardy” Guadagnini. He received generous support from friends and family in making the acquisition of this cello a reality.
Mark has been a member of the Madison Symphony Orchestra cello section since 2016 and was appointed assistant principal cello in September 2018, a position he also holds with the Madison Opera. He also appears frequently with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and many other local groups. As a chamber musician, he has worked with principal musicians of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Pro Arte and Brentano String Quartets among others and has attended the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar and the Banff Chamber Music residency and has performed with members of the Muir, Pro Arte, and Borodin String Quartets. He is a core member of Madison's Willy Street Chamber Players and has been a frequent artist at the Token Creek festival and has been an artist in residence at the Banff Centre(2008, 2014) and at the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2016) and Token Creek (2019) as a member of High Plains with composer Scott Morgan.
Mark is passionate about teaching and has been running a diverse private studio in Madison, since 2010. During that time he has been a chamber music and sectional coach for the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras and has been on the teaching faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.
Mark plays on a beautiful cello by Michele Ashley made in 2021. The cello is modeled after the “Girardy” Guadagnini. He received generous support from friends and family in making the acquisition of this cello a reality.