Born in London, Mark had lessons in violin and piano from an early age. He played in the National Youth Orchestra, and studied at Cambridge University and Royal Academy of Music, where he received numerous prizes and was appointed a Junior Fellow.
Mark Austin’s performances of operatic and orchestral repertoire have been praised for their “eloquent intensity” (Guardian). Recent highlights include ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ (Dartington International Festival), ‘Goyescas’ (Grange Festival), ‘Tosca’ (Musique Cordiale International Festival) and a two-concert Brahms residency with Guy Johnston and Faust Chamber Orchestra at Hatfield House. Mark was assistant conductor for the world première production of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s ‘Coraline’ (Royal Opera). He works regularly with figures including Vasily Petrenko, Sian Edwards, Marin Alsop, David Parry, David Hill, Steuart Bedford, and the late Sir Colin Davis, and has conducted orchestras including Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of St John’s and the Hangzhou Philharmonic, China. Mark was awarded a Bayreuth Festival Young Artist Bursary and recorded the world première of Alex Woolf’s ‘NHS Symphony’ for BBC Radio 3, which won a Prix Europa. He studies with Sian Edwards and was awarded an International Opera Awards Bursary in 2017.
In 2019 Mark makes his debut at Royal Opera House Linbury Theatre conducting Aurora Orchestra in two performances of ‘The Monstrous Child’ by Gavin Higgins and Francesca Simon. He appears in recital at the Luxembourg Philharmonie and works as assistant conductor at Garsington Opera and with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris.
An accomplished pianist, Mark has performed at venues including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, St John’s Smith Square, Holywell Music Room, Opera Bastille (Paris) and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre. He is musical assistant to The Bach Choir and regularly conducts the choir in concert and the recording studio. Mark contributed a chapter on Wagner, Beethoven and Faust to the recently published ‘Music in Goethe’s Faust.’