Mark Reynolds

Mark Reynolds started playing the Tuba at the age of 14. He graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1995 and it was during this period that he was chosen to play with the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra which is where he became a member of the World Brass Ensemble. He then moved to Munich where he started his postgraduate studies at the Richard Strauss Konservatorium. 

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Whilst there he performed with, amongst others, the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian State Radio Orchestra, Bavarian State Opera and the Munich Symphony Orchestra as well as the German Chamber Orchestra Bremen, Ensemble Modern and the NDR Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg culminating in 1999 when he was the first tuba player to be offered a position in the prestigious Munich Philharmonic Orchestra Academy.

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 In 2001, he was appointed principal Tuba of the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders, Antwerp and became a founder member of the Ottone Brass Quintet. He has frequently performed as a soloist including performances of the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic of Flanders and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra as well as recording the world premiere of Maricio Kagel’s ‘Black Madrigal’ with the Berlin Radio Chorus. He was also the soloist in the first performance and recording of ‘Don Giovanni’s Journey into Hell’ written for him and the World Brass Ensemble by Jan Koetsier.

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 February 2009 saw him move back to his beloved Highlands of Scotland with his family where he teaches and conducts in Fort William. He is the conductor of the Lochaber High School Senior Band and Big Band as well as the Highland Youth Wind Band. In 2017 the Highland Youth Wind Band recorded their first ever CD at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Centre in Glasgow with Mark at the helm. Esteemed Wind Band composer Brian Balmages said of the recording, ‘'You have created a wonderful sound with the group, full of music and excitement’'. 

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In 2017 he was the recipient of the International Traveling Scholarship to The Midwest Band and Orchestra clinic in Chicago awarded by the Scottish Concert Band Festival for the three consecutive Gold Plus Award winning performances by the LHS Senior Wind Band at the National Finals of the Festival in Perth Concert Hall. Mark continues to perform regularly with orchestras and ensembles both in Scotland and in Europe and is currently the tuba tutor and brass ensemble coach for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s Senior Orchestra as well the Brass Mentor for NYOS’ Ambassador Programme.

 

In June 2023 Mark began his tenure as Lecturer in Brass at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he will be directing the Wind Orchestra amongst many other roles within the brass department.