When and where was your first concert with the MCO? Aix en Provence in France where we played Don Giovanni with Claudio Abbado in summer 1998, this was the first large scale project the MCO undertook.
What do you need to feel at home whilst on tour? My computer, sports clothing to exercise and a good book.
The first piece of music you fell in love with: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony 6. What would you do if you weren´t a musician? I love architecture and design, I often spent hours as a child doodling floor plans for my dream houses, so I suppose an architect or an interior designer would have been my other choice.
What is the best thing about being a musician? Doing what I love for a living and spending much of my time listening to other great musicians playing wonderfully at my side.
BIOGRAPHY After studying in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and an Aufbaustudium in Mannheim for two years, Mark Hampson worked at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester from 1993 – 1996, before moving to Spain.
Mark has been a member of the orchestra in Gran Canaria ever since and is also a founding member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He has played every project of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA and has collaborated with the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, NDR Hannover, Cadaquez Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin and with most of the orchestras in Spain.
He is also a member of various brass ensembles including MCO Brass, Canarian Brass Quintet, LFO brass and World Brass and has founded the South Africa National Youth Brass Ensemble.
