Mark conducting a jazz guitar masterclass at the Ft. Worth jazz festival, September 2004

Biography~Mark Tonelli is an award-winning guitarist, composer, educator and author. Mark received the third place prize in the Jazz Category of Billboard Magazine's World Song Contest for his composition "Il Mondo." Two additional compositions, "Free" and "Super Highway" received honorable mention. "Il Mondo" also won the Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting Award in the Instrumental Category of The Great American Song Contest. Mark's original composition, "Storm," was featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. Mark's group, The Mark Tonelli Group, performs regularly in the New York/New Jersey region, and was a fixture of the Dallas-Ft.Worth jazz scene for several years. The grouphas received critical acclaim for its two CD's, The Mark Tonelli Group and Chasing The Myth, both on the MTonal Music label. Mark has worked with jazz greats Jon Faddis, Randy Brecker, Ed Soph, Frank Mantooth, Steve Turre, Gregg Bissonette, Byron Stripling, Dan Haerle, Billy Cobham, Lynn Seaton, Denis DeBlasio, Marchel Ivery, and the Les Elgart Orchestra. He has been an ensemble director and instructor at the University of North Texas and the William Paterson University Summer Jazz Workshop. Mark was associate professor of music at Collin County College and North Lake College in the Dallas, TX area. Mark is the author of the MTonal Guitar Method and wrote a monthly guitar instructional column for the Texas music magazine Origin. He has also written for Guitar Player, Downbeat, The Jazz Education Journal, Jazz Improv, Just Jazz Guitar, and The Instrumentalist. Mark earned the bachelor of music in jazz performance from William Paterson University and the Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas, where he was a member of the award-winning Two O'Clock Lab Band and a teaching fellow in the area of jazz studies.

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