Mark Messenger

Mark Messenger is recognised globally as a violinist, conductor, teacher, and educationalist.

As a soloist, conductor and chamber musician he has been a member of the Bochmann and Bingham Quartets, and has worked internationally with Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Bernard Greenhouse, Natalie Clein, Raphael Wallfisch, Thomas Carroll, Yonty Solomon, Howard Shelley, John Lill, Thea King, Michael Collins, David Campbell, Dame Thea King, Chris Garrick, Sir John Dankworth.

In 2004 he was appointed artistic director of the London String Quartet Week and was invited back for 2005, 2006 and 2009 and was on the board of the London String Quartet Foundation. Since 2002, he has been much in demand as an international judge, external examiner, to give masterclasses and as a lecturer, and as a consultant on curriculum development. He has also undertaken work for Oxford University Press, New Holland Publishing and the Associated Board, for whom he has just finished editing the complete works for violin and piano by Elgar.

As an educationalist, Mark has also been responsible for the initiation and delivery of outreach programmes for many orchestras and organisations including the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, English Symphony Orchestra and Colchester Borough Council. For four years, he was Director of Chamber Music at the Aberystwyth International Summer Music Festival, and now is regularly invited to deliver chamber music courses at the Britten-Pears school in Aldeburgh. In 1998, he set up the Essex School’s String Orchestras Project in order to stimulate string playing within the county and reverse a ten-year decline, and in 2000 he was invited to become Artistic Director and conductor of the Essex Young People’s Orchestra, a position he currently holds.

This year sees appearances in the Middle East, China, Russia and throughout Europe. He is currently Head of Strings at the Royal College of Music in London.