Concert Pianist, Doctor of Musical Arts
Pianist Mark Laverty is an award-winning artist who has delighted audiences in the United States and Europe. He was born in St. Louis, and began playing the piano at the age of five. He has studied with Jane Allen at the St. Louis Conservatory, Veronica Jochum at the New England Conservatory, and in 1989 earned the Bachelor of Music Education Degree (Magna Cum Laude) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
In 1993, Laverty completed his Master’s Degree in Piano and Chamber Music at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where he was a student of legendary concert pianist Ruth Slenczynska. A competition winner at SIU-E, he performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Also in 1993, he was chosen by the University of Miami (Florida) to attend their Music Institute in Salzburg, Austria. This included studies in piano and vocal accompaniment, as well as recital performances in Salzburg.
In 1995, Laverty won the Belleville Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Competition, and performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Other concerto performances include Mozart's Concerto No. 19 in F Major with the University of Missouri - St. Louis Orchestra, and Liszt's Hungarian Fantasy with the St. Louis Community College Orchestra at Florissant Valley.
Performances since then have included concerts in St. Louis, a recital with Soprano Karen Fergurson, winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in New York City, and recitals with violinist Manuel Ramos and other members of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2001 Dr. Laverty made his debut in the United Kingdom with all-Bach concerts in London and Cardiff, Wales.
In 2002, he completed the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Piano Performance at the University of Missouri - Kansas City where he was a student of John McIntyre. In 2000, he was a finalist in the UM-KC Concerto Competition. In the summer of 2003, he returned to Europe for recitals in the UK, Salzburg, Austria, and Germany. In 2004, Dr. Laverty won First Place in the Robert M. Spire Piano Competition held at the University of Nebraska - Omaha. Performances for the 2004-05 season included recitals in St. Louis, London, Cardiff, New York, Wisconsin, and performances of Brahms' Concerto No. 1 with the Belleville Philharmonic, and Rachmaninoffs’ Concerto No. 2 with the Clayton and Alton Symphony Orchestras.
In 2006, Dr. Laverty performed at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and served on the piano faculty of Washington University in St. Louis. Concerts in 2006-07 included recitals in St. Louis and St. Charles, Missouri, and San Francisco, and concertos by Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Brahms with the Alton, Illinois, University City, Missouri, and Town and Country Symphony Orchestras. His debut CD, ‘Music of Bach’, was recorded at Tanglewood, and produced by Grammy Award winning producer, David Frost. It was released in 2007, and is available here. In 2007-08, he performed in Chicago, St. Louis, San Diego, Wausau, and St. Charles, Missouri. Also in 2008, Dr. Laverty was selected by the Missouri Arts Council and the Mid-America Arts Alliance to be on their Artist Rosters.
In the 2009-10 season venues included Boston, Houston, St. Simons Island, Georgia, as well as a private gala St. Louis Symphony fundraiser with Concertmaster David Halen in Chesterfield, and an All-Chopin recital at the historic Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis celebrating the composers’ Bicentennial: 1810-2010. In the 2010-11 season, he performed concerts in St. Louis, Washington D.C. and Tennessee. In 2012, he performed an all-Liszt recital at the Sheldon, and an all-Chopin recital at the Steinway Piano Gallery. In 2013, major recitals were presented at Trinity Lutheran Church, in Houston, Texas, and at Zion Lutheran in Maryland Heights, Missouri, where Dr. Laverty is also Music Director.
In demand as an adjudicator, accompanist and master class teacher, he resides in Chesterfield, a suburb of St. Louis, and is the head of the Chesterfield Piano Studio.