Originally from Edinburgh, Mark trained and performed as a percussionist before completing his studies in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music, with Clark Rundell and Mark Heron, where he was awarded the Brierley Kershaw Prize for Conducting. In 2017, Mark won the National Brass Band Conducting Competition and more recently was a semi-finalist in the Citta’ Di Brescia-Giancarlo Facchinetti Conducting Competition. He has taken part in masterclasses with renowned conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop, Nicolás Pasquet and David Hill. He has performed in venues such as Royal Albert Hall London, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Musiikkitalo Helsinki.

As assistant conductor, he has worked with BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, RTÉ concert orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Psappha, assisting conductors such as Sir Mark Elder, Vasily Petrenko, Vassily Sinaisky, John Storgårds and Simone Young. He is also musical director for Voices of Hope, Hexham Orpheus Choir and the City of Leeds Youth Orchestra and guest lecturer in Conducting at Newcastle University.