Welcome! News is posted here regularly. Follow the links above for biography, concert information, galleries, information about my teaching activities and much more.

2012  concert dates as they stand are now on the Concerts page.  After a few weeks of respite over the Christmas period a busy start to the new year is in store. I'm stepping it at short notice to do Mahler's 3rd Symphony with the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra in January, then the following week is the Nottingham Phil's annual family concert.

RNCM gigs include a novel wind orchestra concert featuring transcriptions of movements from Mahler's 5th & 9th Symphonies by faculty composers Adam Gorb & David Horne. Adam's choice is the Rondo Burlesque from the 9th, one of Mahler's most wind & brass focused movements. David, on the other hand, has plumped for the Adagietto of the 5th! We then have a major festival of north west based composers in March during which I'll be conducting the RNCM New Ensemble and the BBC Philharmonic.

Concerts at Manchester University in the next couple of months include Louis Andriessen's iconic M is for Man, Music & Mozart which we will perform with the accompanying Peter Greenaway film, Stravinsky's Firebird and the 7th Symphony of Sibelius.

I'm delighted to say that my conducting students continue to meet with astonishing success. Aged 22, Duncan Ward has just been signed by Askonas Holt, one of the leading artist management agencies. Jamie Phillips, at the age of 20, reached the semi-final round of the prestigious Besancon Conducting Competition, one of the most prestigious in the world, and will be at Tanglewood this summer. Current RNCM Junior Fellow, Gergely Madaras was a finalist in the same competition and will assist Pierre Boulez in Luzerne for the next two summers.

RNCM Conducting Weekend, 4-6 May 2012
Details now available here. Applications for this excellent weekend course must be made by early March. This year's guest faculty member is Mark Stringer, Professor of Conducting in Vienna.

Sherborne Summer School of Music, 5 - 11 August 2012
Details on the school website.

Review
Musicians, writers and painters have reacted in various ways to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the USA. For New England trained composer Kevin Malone, now living in Britain, “it was the first time I really got homesick for America.”

The attacks prompted him to compose a whole clutch of pieces – concluding with the tone poem for cello, orchestra and loudspeakers which received its first concert performance at the weekend.

Entitled E pluribus unum (Latin for “Out Of Many We Are One”), the piece remembers the plane brought down near a township in Pennsylvania. The recorded voices of town residents were worked into the score.

Guest soloist Christian Elliott illustrated how poignantly the cello can reproduce the human voice. To evoke a community affected literally out of the blue, conductor Mark Heron drew a focused and imaginative performance from the Nottingham Philharmonic.

Marches, waltzes, chorales, impressions of nature: Mahler used them all for extremely personal ends. The five movements of his Fifth Symphony took us on a sometimes rollercoaster ride between emotional peaks and troughs.

At the central turning-point, a magnificent horn dominated an exhilarating scherzo. The now famous adagietto for strings and harp was tenderly phrased. The large orchestra played with heroic intensity.

Despite the numbing effect of a long preliminary wait, Mozart's Magic Flute overture made an exquisite, seemingly carefree opener.    

World Premieres this autumn
I was delighted to conduct the world premiere of Kevin Malone's E Pluribus Unum at an event to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The performance was streamed live to a venue in the US, with a premiere taking place there being streamed to Manchester. Full details.

In October, I'll be conducting the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra's 60th anniversary concert which includes the first performance of a new work for piano and orchestra by one of the hottest properties in British contemporary music, Emily Howard. The soloist will be the fantastic young Romanian pianist, Alexandra Dariescu, with whom I have worked many times.

In December the RNCM Wind Ensemble will premiere a new work by Tim Garland.

Add to that the RNCM's Howard Skepmton festival in November; a CD recording of saxophone concerti by Andy Scott, Michael Ball, Graham Fitkin and Jacob Ter Veldhuis with Rob Buckland and John Harle as soloists; and performances of works by North West composers Adam Gorb and Gary Carpenter it's quite a new music filled autumn!

Back in the land of core repertoire, before 2012 is with us there's Mahler's 1st & 5th symphonies in Sheffield and Manchester, Tchaikovsky's 6th and Beethoven's 5th at Manchester University plus Haydn & Mozart in Liverpool.

Concert dates posted
September to December dates are now on the Concerts page.

Busy Summer
Just back from a great tour to Germany & Czech Republic with the University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra. Stunning performances of Elgar's In the South and Mahler's 5th Symphony. What an incredible standard this orchestra achieves, not to mention their partying skills. Video of the Maher here on YouTube. Next stop is my first trip to Israel for a few years to conduct their National Youth Wind Orchestra, followed immediately by Sherborne Summer School. 2011/12 concert dates will be posted towards the end of August.

Estival!
Estival is Manchester University Music Society's summer festival taking place from 6th to 9th of June. 13 concerts in four days, conducted by my very talented conducting students from the University music department. Then, at the beginning of our tour to Germany & Prague there will be a performance of Mahler's 5th Symphony at 1pm on Thursday 14th July. Tickets only £5/£2 and an opportunity for prospective students to talk with students and staff after the concert.

Noise of Many Waters
Noise of Many Waters is the latest spectacular in a series of sell-out events created for Manchester landmarks, such as Shattered Sounds at the Imperial war Museum North, Art of Sound: Sound of Art at the Whitworth Art Gallery and The End of the Line (A Brief Encounter) at Manchester Piccadilly station. Read all about it here.

Final call for Sherborne Summer School
Anyone interested in applying for one of Europe's leading summer conducting programmes should do so soon. Visit this page on Tim Reynish's website for further details.

RNCM Conducting Weekend
A record number of conductors descended on Manchester for 3 days of intensive masterclasses. The numbers tell the story: 43 participants from 11 countries; 6 teachers; 7 sessions with often 3 or 4 classes running simultaneously totally 59 hours of teaching; 12 different works covering symphony, chamber, string & wind orchestra, opera, choral & new music.

If you fancy a bit of that the dates for next year are 4th to 6th May 2012 and application details will be available here in the autumn or at www.rncm.ac.uk/conducting   

Reviews
"The character that Richard Strauss depicted in his Merry Pranks of Till Eulenspiegel would have had an ASBO slapped on him in recent times.The legendary folk hero fared worse – he got himself hanged. Strauss re-tells the legend in an orchestral rondo, with solo passages. Conductor Mark Heron ensured pace, drama and vivid tableaux. Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1, too, was a young man's creation and in Callum Smart, there is a 15-year-old violinist in a class of his own. With the magical first bars of an intricate prelude, he lured the audience under his spell. In the Adagio, the radiant charm of Bruch's melodies was beautifully captured. The closing dance raised a whirl of energy, the soloist keeping his nerve all along. But he did more than dazzle; he can already touch hearts and souls. Heron found fresh thingbs in Dvorak's Ninth Symphony, a combination of power and finesse making this Bohemian greeting to the New World so richly effective."

RNCM Conducting Weekend 13-15 May 2011
Application info for our fantastically popular weekend conducting course is now available. Click here for the brochure.

Sherborne (formerly Canford) Summer School
Also online now is information about the conducting course I teach at this fantastic summer music school. Details here.

Busy Times!
Well, things have been incredibly hectic for the past few months, so apologies for very little news being posted.

Some recent reviews:

"From restrained beginnings, the symphony gained in tension from stage to stage. Its dynamic contrasts and eloquent pauses were sharply observed. So too were the opportunities for melodic unfolding, as in horn-driven portions of the Scherzo movement. The Phil kept their collective nerve in the near-manic finale, making this a Beethoven performance to savour. Stravinsky had his problems with Nijinsky's dancers when, in 1913, he unleashed his Rite on a Paris audience. And yet, under Heron's scrupulous guidance, the character seemed balletic through and through. The Prelude, said Stravinsky, should present nature's awakening: the scratching, gnawing, wiggling of birds and beasts. As in their recent Mahler, the orchestra evoked a pungent whiff of the earth. Negotiating an ever changing pulse with resolve, they went on to catch both the vitality of the seasonal dances and the solemnity of primitive sacrifice. Simply awesome."

"Stravinsky's Octet was delivered with irresistible verve, thanks to wakeful interpreters and a conductor who knows it inside out. The two finished movements of the best known unfinished symphony – Schubert's in B minor – proclaimed the dawn of the Romantic era in harmonies entirely Schubert's own. The performance exemplified the orchestra's team spirit, as closely co-ordinated as it was warm in expression. Heavenly clarinet playing."

Fantastic Mahler 5
The Manchester University Symphony Orchestra is comprised almost entirely of undergraduates aged 18 - 21, many of whom are not studying music. The standards they achieve are quite astonishing at times. Have a listen here to their recent Mahler 5 which was put together on 12 hours of rehearsal over 3 weeks. That's barely more than a professional orchestra would have, and probably significantly less than most performances by conservatoire orchestras.    

RNCM Conducting Weekend
Full details will be posted very soon, but the dates are 13th to 15th May 2011 and the repertoire will include Firebird, Schubert 5, Appalachian Spring, Tchaikovsky Serenade and others. If you want to register your interest, please email esther.wakeman@rncm.ac.uk

Canford Summer School
Canford Summer School is being renamed "Sherborne Summer School" to reflect the fact that it is now held in Sherborne! Other than the name nothing changes and it remains one of the best summer courses around for conductors. Dates for 2011 are 7th to 13th August. Again, repertoire will be announced soon.

New site design!
As well as a fresh look, I've expanded the section about my conducting teaching in response to the many enquiries I receive about this subject. Hopefully it'll provide a lot more information but please get in touch with any questions.

Summer brings with it a slightly less hectic period for me, although I'm looking forward to working with world music megastar Toumani Diabate in Spain later this month, and to teaching at Canford in August.
added 8th July 2010

Course Dates
Dates for the 2010/11 RNCM external conducting courses are now available. The conducting weekend will be 13th to 15th May and applications for that will open in late September. The two single day courses will be on 12th November and 18th February although it is likely that all places on those will be taken by previous participants who get first choice. Any vacancies will be adverstised in September.
added 8th July 2010

Review
"Despite his considerable experience, Mark Heron was conducting a Bruckner symphony for the first time. A composer like no other calls for a special approach and technique, and these were supplied in full measure. Above all it was the work's monumental features which were realised so effectively, as well as an enchantment recalling Schubert or Mahler. While the French horns, flute, clarinet and other winds stood out at crucial points, magnificent strings sustained a collective glory. The many hushed openings to new paragraphs – "I need to take a deep breath," said Bruckner – were beautifully played. This music seemed to come not off the printed page but out of the surrounding ether."
added 5th July 2010

RNCM Conductors
We are very proud of the conducting programme at the Royal Northern College of Music. This weekend illustrates the tremendous opportunities available to our students as between them they conduct 3 different orchestras in 5 different events. On Friday evening at 6pm, Duncan Ward - an undergradaute composition student who also studies conducting with me at Manchester University, will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a master class with Valery Gergiev. At 7.30pm, Eduardo Portal, our 2nd year Junior Fellow will conduct the RNCM Symphony Orchestra in a programme of Wagner, Albeniz, Penderecki and Debussy. On Saturday, the three 1st year Masters students, Tom Newall, Maria Molund and Jonathan Lo will conduct the Stockport Symphony in Strauss, Guilmant and Vaughan Williams, whilst at the same time Dane Lam (1st year Junior Fellow) and Juan Ortuno (2nd year Masters) will conduct Manchester Camerata in Mozart, Salieri & Tchaikovsky. Finally, on Sunday Ian Davis and Edwina Wolstencroft (both 2nd year Masters students) will conduct Manchester Camerata in Mendelssohn, Mozart and Beethoven. Good luck to all!!

Volcano Subbing
That's what they're calling it! More than most businesses, classical music relies on international travel to get conductors and soloists from one country, or continent, to another. Click here for the New York Times take on the effect that Eyjafjallajoekull volcano on concert giving worldwide this week. For me, what was a fairly quiet week has allowed me to help out a German colleague, Lancelot Fuehry, who was due in Manchester this week to conduct the RNCM Concert Orchestra. Not much chance of getting to Manchester from Berlin so I'm taking over that concert for him.

New CD out soon
A recording of Adam Gorb's wind ensemble music will be released shortly on the prestigious NMC label. Featuring some of Adam's most substantial and incredibly virtuosic works the disc was recorded during 2009 by the RNCM Wind Orchestra conducted by Tim Reynish, Clark Rundell and myself. It will be available from the NMC site in disc or electronic format soon.

Adam Gorb: Farewell; Scenes from Breugel; Ascent; Towards Nirvana

Reviews
"...the Nottingham Philharmonic under Mark Heron seems to reach greater heights of orchestral virtuosity. Saturday steered away from the symphonic catalogue and into romantic opera. 18th-century Italy and Spain were conjured up in Verdi's overture The Force of Destiny, a fictional Viennese society in Richard Strauss' suite from Der Rosenkavalier. Vienna also inspired the lilting waltzes of Johann Strauss' operetta Die Fledermaus, whose overture launched the second half. Orchestra and soloist were united in a dewy-fresh performance of Grieg's Piano Concerto featuring Romanian-born Alexandra Dariescu. Her fingers made each single note tell in the poetic Adagio. A spacious approach to the outer movements, with their echoes of Nordic folk tunes, rendered Grieg's dramatic climaxes all the more potent."

"....a soulful and passionate performance of Brahms’s Fourth Symphony. The immense power of the orchestra was astonishing and the brass successfully gave it their all without a split note in sight. The pianissimo section in the slow movement was all the more beautiful for its contrast to the relentless vigour called for by Brahms, giving the orchestra a chance to display its subtlety as well as its power."

RNCM Conducting Weekend
The dates for the next RNCM Conducting Weekend are 30th April to 2nd May 2010. Joining Clark Rundell and I on the faculty will be Philippe Bach, a former Junior Fellow at the College and now having a very successful career in the opera world in Germany. Details of the course, and an application form, are available here. This course is extremely popular and fills up very quickly so early application is advised. The weekend covers a wide variety of genre: symphony, chamber & wind orchestras, opera scenes and new music ensembles. Experienced conductors looking for some refresher training, young conductors interested in full time study, and those working in music education or with amateur groups are all welcome to attend.

RNCM Wind Weekend
The new, enlarged RNCM Wind Weekend was a great success with a wide range of performances, master classes and clinics. Pretty busy weekend for me with 4 different performances in 2 days but it was a pleasure to work on contemporary wind music by Gorb, McNeff and an RNCM student, Mark Francis, a classic from earlier in the 20th Century by the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, and Mozart's Gran Partita. In the days following the festival we recorded a disc of Adam Gorb's extremely brilliant and utterly difficult wind pieces, including Towards Nirvana and the more recent Farewell. Watch out for the cd on the NMC label in the Spring.

Spanish Wind Conductors Congress
Just back from Spain where I was invited to conduct and speak at the above event. The traditions and history of wind playing in the Valencia region of Spain are known and respected all over the world and it was a great honour to be invited to work with one of the bands from that part of the country. As they are approaching their 175th anniversary it was slightly daunting to learn that I was the first non-Spaniard to conduct the Centro Instructivo Musical Apollo band from Alcoi! We played a programme of English music: Vaughan Williams, Woolfenden, Gorb & Hesketh. And yes, the weather was lovely and a welcome change from Manchester in November.

Manchester University Symphony Orchestra
Congratulations to the members of MUSO for fantastic concerts in Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Manchester University has always had an extremely strong academic music deparment with a world class composition faculty. Things are going from strength to strength on the performance side at the moment with tremendous collaboration between the faculty and the student music society. This coming season will see a revamp of the way the orchestras and ensembles are operated and details of an exciting series of concerts can be found on the MUMS website.  At the university I work with an auditioned group of 6 student conductors, all of whom get significant experience with symphony, chamber, string, wind and brass orchestras and ensembles, making it one of the leading options for those interested in serious conducting study at undergraduate level.

Canford Summer School of Music
Just back from the 2009 Canford course. 22 conductors from all over the world, a great wind orchestra of students and very fine non-professional players, 4 performances, 91 gigabytes of video, umpteen pieces of repertoire and goodness only knows how many beers.

One of the unique things about this course is the mixture of students: orchestral and wind band conductors, some already very experienced, others less so, with a wide variety of backgrounds and ages from many parts of the world. The dates for the 2010 course are 8th to 15th August. Details will be available on the school's website and on this site.

Cincinnati
Earlier this summer I spent just over a week in Cincinnati with the RNCM Wind Orchestra performing at the WASBE conference. You can read my tour blog here. Our programme was entirely of British music written (with the exception of a short Vaughan Williams starter) since 1979. In chronological order of composition: Edward Gregson, Adam Gorb, Edwin Roxburgh, David Horne, Michael Oliva, Gary Carpenter. We also give a repertoire concert which included pieces by current and former RNCM composition students Duncan Ward, Emily Howard and Gavin Higgins. CDs of both concerts are now available from Mark Custom. Browse to the "Order Forms" and select WASBE 2009.

Recent Reviews
"The Nottingham Philharmonic has long been one of the country's finest amateur orchestras but since the appointment of rising Scottish conductor, Mark Heron, they consistently deliver performances on a par with the region's professional outfits."

"Gustav Mahler said that nature was all around him, and all he had to do was compose it. Never have I heard his musical impressions of nature reproduced so eloquently than in a memorable performance of Mahler's First Symphony under Mark Heron's incisive guidance."

CD Review: Stephen McNeff: Image in Stone
"This CD, then, is recommended to anyone interested in uncommon wind band music—in fact, to anyone attracted by deeply felt, slightly quirky, highly individual contemporary music. As one would expect given the provenance, the youthful wind ensemble—mostly players 18 to19 years old—performs beautifully."
Full review from Fanfare magazine here.