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The American bass and music pedagogue, Mark Pearson, was raised in Rockford and Springfield, Illinois, graduating from Springfield High School. obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Oberlin College; and his Masters of Arts degree in English from the Stanford University. He studied with teachers Robert Everhart, Ivan Rasmussen, and Ruth Streeter and was coached with Felix Wolfes, Nadia Boulanger, Pierre Bernac, and John Moriarty.
After graduating, Mark Pearson moved to Boston to become the summer Assistant Director of Choral Activities at Harvard University, and opened his private voice studio. He was a Professor of Voice at New England Conservatory (NEC) from 1965 until his retirement in 2009. He served as the Chair of the Voice Department from 1971 until 1992. He was a well-known, highly respected and admired teacher of voice and vocal pedagogy. During his tenure, he helped develop the school's first master's degree in vocal pedagogy.
Mark Pearson was also an accomplished performer both locally and nationally. He performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a bass soloist, with ensembles at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and regularly with the NEC Symphony Orchestra, NEC Chorus, and NEC Chamber Singers. He was also a soloist in the USA premieres of Ernest Bloch's Macbeth, Benjamin Britten's Cantata Misericordium, Daniel Pinkham's Jonah, and Carl Nielsen's Third Symphony. In England and America, he performed the roles of Sarasoto, Osmin, Arkel, and Mars in Lully's Thesee, and Pangloss in Leonard Bernstein's Candide. At the Santa Fe Opera, he was a soloist under Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, and Douglas Moore.
While a distinguished performer, Mark Pearson was first and foremost a teacher whose impact professionally and personally spanned over four decades. He often said "I am a teacher who sings, not a singer who teaches." A well-known and respected teacher of voice and vocal pedagogy, he instructed students who have won major competitions and prizes, including the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in USA, Canada, and Europe. His students have also sung lead roles in productions in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and Vancouver, as well as opera companies in Europe. Many of his students currently teach voice in colleges, conservatories, and universities in the USA. and Europe. He happily shared his varied and deep knowledge of not just music but art, history, movies, and life. Many of his students currently teach voice in colleges, conservatories, and universities in the USA and Europe. His students ultimately became like family, and they continued to visit him into retirement and after moving to Melrose. Among his students: Anne Ackley Gray (Soprano), Ray DeVoll (Tenor), Elizabeth Parcells (Soprano), Gregory Reinhart (Bass), David Ripley (Bass-Baritone), Barbara Winchester (Soprano). A longtime resident of Boston, Massachusetts, he passed away peacefully at the Golden Living Center - The Elmhurst in Melrose, Massachusetts on Thursday, November 5, 2015, at the age of 85. |
