Mark O'Connor Interview - Tamar Alexia Fleishman

Mark O'Connor does not fit into any musical, or for that matter, career niche. He has successfully mixed bluegrass, country, classical, jazz, Celtic, blues, gospel and world music. Alert viewers can even pick out a young O'Connor playing backup on the famous fusion appearance of Paul Simon and Willie Nelson on "Saturday Night Live."

A child prodigy, he was playing guitar by the age of 6 and the violin by 11. O’Connor was raised in a destitute section of Seattle by his mother, who didn't have the financial resources to properly nurture O'Connor's talent in the classical tradition. O’Connor’s mom didn’t have the energy to be a "stage mom" and aggressively seek out scholarships and concert opportunities for Mark; she was depressed by a failing marriage and in poor health.

Still, she found a creative solution that would change the course of his career and music forever. O’Connor’s mother took him around to music competitions, where he would coax different musicians into giving him lessons. Learning on the fly, he mastered classical and flamenco guitar, mandolin, banjo and later violin, when Texas fiddler Benny Thomasson took him under his wing. He recorded albums while still in high school. Then, he auditioned for the late jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli and
toured with him.

O’Connor has received many honors: as a teenager, he won the National Fiddler's competition so many times, they told him not to compete; he was named the Country Music Association's Musician of the Year from 1992-1996; he has won two Grammys, one for his country album, The New Nashville Cats , and another for his collaboration with Yo Yo Ma, Appalachian Journey;
he has played for the soundtracks of "The Patriot" and "Gods and Generals"; he has performed at The White House, the Presidential Inaugural Celebration, the Olympic games in Atlanta, CBS' "Sunday Morning," the Kennedy Center Honors (where he serves on the selection committee) and America's celebration of Israel's 50th birthday televised on CBS.

O’Connor’s "Fiddle Concerto No. 1" has become the most-performed modern violin concerto. Additionally, many dance troupes, such as including Twyla Tharp, the New York City Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance in Chicago have choreographed dances to his music.

O’Connor’s many CD’s, DVD’s, books and sheet music are for sale at http://www.markoconnor.com

O’Connor was the first person to have digital downloads of his music on his web site. Rather than going to a publishing company that prints out the music, then either sells it or rents it to orchestras, O’Connor says, "My desire was to create a web site where you pay for each part." He went to a computer code writing expert. The files are specially secured so that people can’t put them on another web site and distribute them for free. "They can get the file once or twice on their own
computer. Then, they can print it out," O’Connor notes. He points out several benefits of this development: no backordering, reduced cost and 24/7 availability.

O’Connor has other technological innovations in his work. "I composed a computer program FINALE. It’s a great liberating force to developing the score of any music. From the score, I can extract the part. In the old days, the publisher would extract the part. It was a way to make more money.

O’Connor is involved with many charities, including his own fiddle camp and strings conferences; both are non-profits. Interestingly enough, O’Connor claims that his web site is largely responsible for getting the word out for his projects. He has over 400 students each summer. "We only accept registration on the web site. It’s a huge time saver. We don’t have a huge staff," O’Connor concedes. The camps and conferences accept beginners through advanced players, and the students are able to
learn classical, jazz, bluegrass and world music.

O’Connor has a new CD coming out that might shock his fans. It features a full choir, singing O’Connor’s tribute to the books of the Old Testament. Another surprising project he is involved with is a collaboration with a kamenche player. The kamenche is an ancient stringed instrument from Iran. O’Connor developed a relationship with a player who contacted him through his web site. Now O’Connor is flying him in this summer to teach!

Image by photographer Jim McGuire.