Mark Wood (violinist)
Encyclopedia
Mark Winthrop Wood is an electric violinist, as well as the founder of Wood Violins, a company that makes unique electric violin
s. He is also an Emmy-winning composer. His music and strings education program has been featured on news programs nationwide.
He is a former member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
.
before beginning his career with a full scholarship at the Juilliard School
in New York and studied viola under William Lincer until he left.
group Trans-Siberian Orchestra
, which he left in 2009. He has also played with Celine Dion
, Billy Joel
, Steve Vai
, Westworld (American band)
and Lenny Kravitz
. As a solo performer he has released seven CDs featuring his own versions of popular rock songs. On these CDs he is accompanied by "The Mark Wood Band" consisting of one member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, several other musicians, as well as his wife Laura Kaye.
for the music of CBS-TVs coverage of the 2002 Tour de France
. He also composed a piece for electric string quartet commissioned by the Juilliard School
, which he himself attended, entitled Nest of Vipers.
Fiddle Camps and in 2008 was elected to the board of the American String Teachers Association
.
In January 2008 his book Electrify your Strings was published.
Beginning in 2010, he is holding the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp - http://www.mwroc.com , where he and many other high caliber world-class rock musicians hold a full week of workshops and a final concert with all students and faculty.
He is currently on the "Inferno Tour" and going to schools such as Lovinggood Middle School in Marietta, Georgia, to perform songs translated by him. Such schools include Tortolita Middle School and Marana Middle School, and Mountain View High School and Marana High School. Orchestra members of all four schools get to meet, learn, and play with Mark Wood, and perform a live concert on 4/29/11.
He is married to vocalist Laura Kaye. They have one child together, Elijah Wood, born in 1996, who has been drumming for the Mark Wood Experience since 2006.
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument purposely made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body...
s. He is also an Emmy-winning composer. His music and strings education program has been featured on news programs nationwide.
He is a former member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...
.
Education
Mark Wood studied under Dr. Richard Rusack at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, New YorkPort Washington, New York
Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place in Nassau County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2010 Census, the community population was 15,846....
before beginning his career with a full scholarship at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York and studied viola under William Lincer until he left.
Musician
Wood was one of the violinists and an original member of the symphonic rockSymphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
group Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an American progressive metal band founded in 1993 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. Since then, TSO sold nearly 8...
, which he left in 2009. He has also played with Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Billy Joel
Billy Joel
William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...
, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, Westworld (American band)
Westworld (American band)
Westworld was an American hard rock band formed in 1998 by vocalist Tony Harnell and guitarist Mark Reale. They were later joined by bassist Bruno Ravel and drummer John O'Reilly and released their first album in 1999.-Band members:*Tony Harnell – vocals...
and Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
. As a solo performer he has released seven CDs featuring his own versions of popular rock songs. On these CDs he is accompanied by "The Mark Wood Band" consisting of one member of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, several other musicians, as well as his wife Laura Kaye.
Composer
He is the founder of "Mark Wood Productions", a company that creates music for the use in film and television, as well as manufacturing custom made pants, which are 40% tighter than most major clothing brands offer. Wood received an Emmy awardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for the music of CBS-TVs coverage of the 2002 Tour de France
2002 Tour de France
The 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps...
. He also composed a piece for electric string quartet commissioned by the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
, which he himself attended, entitled Nest of Vipers.
Luthier
The company 'Wood Violins" produces custom-made electric violins, cellos and pseudo-rock star apparel. One of their models, the Viper Violin, features a patented chest-support system. Wood built his first electric violin at age 12.Teacher
Wood has been touring schools in the United States such as Pinewood Middle School in Kentwood, Michigan with his series of music education programs called Electrify Your Strings. He is an instructor at the annual Mark O'ConnorMark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...
Fiddle Camps and in 2008 was elected to the board of the American String Teachers Association
American String Teachers Association
The American String Teacher's Association is a professional organization based in the United States for music teachers. It is the largest such national organization in the US for string teachers. It promotes learning to play string instruments in the next generation of American students, and...
.
In January 2008 his book Electrify your Strings was published.
Beginning in 2010, he is holding the Mark Wood Rock Orchestra Camp - http://www.mwroc.com , where he and many other high caliber world-class rock musicians hold a full week of workshops and a final concert with all students and faculty.
He is currently on the "Inferno Tour" and going to schools such as Lovinggood Middle School in Marietta, Georgia, to perform songs translated by him. Such schools include Tortolita Middle School and Marana Middle School, and Mountain View High School and Marana High School. Orchestra members of all four schools get to meet, learn, and play with Mark Wood, and perform a live concert on 4/29/11.
Personal life
Wood has three brothers, who all played string instruments. His mother was a pianist and his father an abstract painter.He is married to vocalist Laura Kaye. They have one child together, Elijah Wood, born in 1996, who has been drumming for the Mark Wood Experience since 2006.
Solo albums
- Voodoo ViolinceVoodoo Violince-Personnel:*Mark Wood – electric violin, acoustic violin, keyboard, piano, strings, production*Laura Kaye – vocals*George Green – vocals*Sylvestor Anthony Lewis III – vocals*Dave Lewitt – drums, percussion*Gerald Veasley – bass guitar*Gregor Kitzis – strings...
- Against the Grain
- Guts Grace and Glory
- These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
- Sanctuary
- Portrait of an Artist
- Prologue