1. Mark O'Connor was born on August 5,1961 and is an American fiddle player, composer, guitarist, and mandolinist whose music combines bluegrass, country, jazz and classical.
27 Facts About Mark O'Connor
1. 2.
Mark O'Connor has recorded and performed mostly his original American Classical music for decades.
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Mark O'Connor has appeared on 450 albums, composed nine concertos and has put together groundbreaking ensembles.
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Mark O'Connor's mentors have included Benny Thomasson who taught O'Connor to fiddle as a teenager, French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli with whom O'Connor toured as a teenager, and guitarists Chet Atkins, Doc Watson and Steve Morse.
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Mark O'Connor was born and raised in the suburb of Mountlake Terrace, Washington, where his father was a construction worker and his mother was a dance teacher.
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Mark O'Connor's mother insisted that he learn to play the guitar at the age of five and, by the age of ten had taught himself to play the Flamenco guitar.
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In 1973, Mark O'Connor's mother drove him and his little sister from Seattle to Nashville, Tennessee, where a local friend suggested that he might be allowed to play at the Picking Parlour.
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Mark O'Connor won national titles on the fiddle, guitar, and mandolin as a teenager.
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In 1975, at the age of thirteen, Mark O'Connor won the WSM, Tennessee, and Grand Ole Opry sponsored Grand Masters Fiddle Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, against amateur and professional competitors of all ages.
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Mark O'Connor is a four-time grand champion at the National Oldtime Fiddlers' Contest in Weiser, Idaho.
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Mark O'Connor composes, arranges, and records American music in genres that include folk, classical, and jazz.
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Mark O'Connor's works include concertos, and compositions for orchestra, string quartets, string trios, choral music, solo unaccompanied pieces, folk and bluegrass ensemble and a symphony.
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In 1993, Mark O'Connor teamed up with Charlie Daniels to record a sequel to Daniels' 1979 single "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" entitled "The Devil Comes Back To Georgia".
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Between 1995 and 2000, Mark O'Connor teamed up with Yo-Yo Ma and Edgar Meyer to release "Appalachia Waltz" and "Appalachian Journey" spending nearly 2 years at the top of the classical music Billboard charts.
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In 1996, Mark O'Connor composed The Olympic Reel for the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
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In 2008 Mark O'Connor paired up with violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg to record his "Double Violin Concerto" with Marin Alsop and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra for OMAC Records.
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Over a period of five years, Mark O'Connor teamed up with jazz musicians Frank Vignola and Jon Burr for a trilogy of "Hot Swing Trio" albums dedicated to his mentor Stephane Grappelli.
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Mark O'Connor recorded Thirty-Year Retrospective in 2003 with the mandolinist Chris Thile, guitarist Bryan Sutton, and bassist Byron House.
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Mark O'Connor provided the soundtrack to a 30-minute animated film on the story of Johnny Appleseed, narrated by Garrison Keillor.
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Mark O'Connor contributed four tracks to a 1993 album on the theme of The Night Before Christmas, narrated by Meryl Streep.
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Mark O'Connor released the recording for both string quartets under the label OMAC in May 2009.
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Mark O'Connor recorded a duets album with Maggie featuring music from the O'Connor Method.
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Some of Mark O'Connor's albums are or contain tributes to his musical mentors and inspirations, including Niccolo Paganini, Benny Thomasson, and Grappelli.
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Mark O'Connor has recorded solo albums for OMAC Records, Rounder, Warner Bros.
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Mark O'Connor was named Musician of the Year by the Country Music Association six years in a row.
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Mark O'Connor is 4-time National Old-Time Fiddler Champion, 3-time Grand Master Fiddler Champion, 2-time national guitar flatpick champion, and world mandolin champion, all achieved in his teens.
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Mark O'Connor was inducted into The National Fiddler Hall of Fame in 2009.