Mark Phillips
piano, wooodwinds
Mark Phillips hails from Down Under, studying piano and saxophone at the University of Melbourne before heading to New York City. Currently, Mark work both as a sideman and band leader around NYC, and even had a guest appearance in the HBO show "VINYL." He has backed up Olivia Newton-John, Gavin Degraw, Aaron Carter, and the Iranian pop singer Shahkar. Mark performs with The Queen’s Cartoonists - a jazz band dedicated to the preservation and performance of scores from classic cartoons, and is an endorsing artist for D'Addario reeds and Selmer Paris Saxophones.
Testimonials
"Mark's relaxed, open teaching style has been great for my daughter. He makes learning the piano fun and thinks of creative ways to help her learn new songs and understand the fundamentals of music theory. It's also a bonus that Mark is a professional jazz musician who plays multiple instruments, as he can teach her elements of jazz that she otherwise wouldn't get from a traditional piano teacher.”
–Jenny, mom
"Mark is a great teacher. He has taught me some new ways of looking at music and has taught me many new things I never knew before. He is also very calm and understanding. I am very happy he is my teacher.”
–Ella, age 12
“Mark makes piano lessons fun!”
–Violet, age 9
"I've been consistently impressed with Mark's teaching. He's been able to engage my child, keep lessons fun and interesting, and help her to continue to improve by always being encouraging without any pressure. I also appreciate how he introduces musical theory, so I feel she's getting a more complete musical education. Her playing has improved dramatically with him, and she also enjoys playing more and more.”
–Joanna, mom
Teaching Videos
Some adults actually want to learn fundamentals (!), so here's Mark teaching student Tara proper scale technique.
In this video, Mark Phillips teaches Ellis a few concepts about rhythm and independence of the hands. It's even harder than it looks!