About Mark

Mark has been playing the organ since he was 14, having started at the age of three on the piano.  Entirely self taught, he has been a church organist for 20 years and now works full time in the music industry at Swift Music in Bristol.  He has a number of organs the largest of which is, his own four manual Allen George Wright series digital theatre organ situated in Keyberry Park Methodist Church, Newton Abbot, Devon. In 2008 Mark and his wife Michelle moved to Peasedown St. John, Bath where Michelle is the Methodist Minister. Mark has two Roland Atelier Organs,  these state of the art instruments, used with powerful SR stage line speakers, are used for concert work in both churches and organ clubs around the country. When he has a church concert, Mark also takes the AT100 Atelier (as a supplement to the pipe organ.) These twin organ concerts give a good balance between classical pipe organ music and other music played on the Atelier. Mark makes trips to Northern Ireland, visits have included Londonderry Cathedral and Townsend Street Presbyterian, Belfast, organised by David Morris, a long time friend.

Prior to moving to the Bath area, Mark was employed for 12 years by the South Devon Railway, Buckfastleigh, Devon, where he restored, maintained and drove ex Great Western Steam Locomotives.  Much of  his spare time was also spent  coordinating volunteers to help run the station.  The railway has a fleet of five working steam engines with many others under restoration, Mark sets aside a few days a month to return as a steam locomotive driver and fireman.  The trains run through unspoilt Devon countryside following the River Dart. The railway has been awarded Best Preserved Railway of the Year,  no wonder visitors are impressed! 

It is now 11 years since the Allen organ was installed, and , in that time, there have been on average six concerts a year, most of them played by Mark.  With unlimited access to the largest digital theatre organ in the country Mark taught himself Wurlitzer sounds and has produced two CDs.  The second CD 'First and GW4 Most' ,  has been featured by Nigel Ogden on Radio2. Nigel has been a great support, having performed ten times at Keyberry so far. A number of other artists have performed in concert at Keyberry Park, special guests recently are Nicholas Martin on October 9th 2010 and Nigel Ogden on June 3rd 2011.

Keyberry Park Church has a regular Sunday morning service of worship at 10.30pm, Mark plays for these services frequently. Please contact for details of dates.

Promoting the organ is a full time job!  At Swift Music we sell all types of Keyboard instruments, from the smallest controller keyboards to the largest organs. Mark spends his shop time advising clients, demonstrating selling, delivering and tutoring to aid product knowledge. With a wide customer base generated by multiple promotional events each year, including club visits, Nick, Margaret and Mark are well known in the industry as leading suppliers. They transport and display a range of instruments to festivals run by many different artists, most notably their own Musical Magic at Mill Rythe Holiday Village, Hayling Island. Guests see top artists and have the chance to buy the latest instruments!

Mark's concert programmes contain a variety of music shown off to the best by the most recent equipment available. The Roland Atelier AT100 organ is used along with the SR stage line speakers.  Programming registrations and rhythms is done using Mark's own AT900c. Mark also likes to use projected visual images to accompany some of the medleys! and is usually able to bring his own projector and screen. If you have not had the chance to hear him play take a look at his concert diary on www.organfax.co.uk/players/markireland .  

 

Mark's Photo Gallery

Mark's Concert Diary