Mark Hunter
- United States

Overview

Mark is an accomplished percussionist, composer, and educator that excels in the marching arts. A native of Chicago, he began his percussion education under Bret Kuhn. As a student of James Campbell at The University of Kentucky, Mark performed in a number of the university’s ensembles, including the percussion ensemble that won the prestigious Percussive Arts Society Collegiate Percussion Ensemble Contest two times during Mark’s tenure. While at Kentucky, Mark was also fortunate to privately study with a number of well respected guest artists and clinicians, including Anders Åstrand and Michael Spiro. Outside of his college studies, he marched snare with The Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps (97-2000), during which time the group was awarded two high percussion awards and a World Championship. Upon graduation from The University of Kentucky with a MFA in 2004, Mark won an audition with the Tony and Emmy Award-winning show, Blast!, and toured Japan as the show’s marimba soloist.

Currently the battery arranger and Assistant Caption Head for The Mandarins Drum & Bugle Corps, Mark has previously worked with a number of other DCI groups, including The Phantom Regiment, Spirit of Atlanta, and the Colts. On the WGI front, Mark will return this year for his 5th season teaching Music City Mystique. More locally, he is the SAPA Vice President for Percussion where he has also served as the Percussion Member at Large.

Mark resides in Atlanta, GA where he is the arranger and caption head for South Forsyth High School (2015 SAPA A Class Champions), in addition to arranging for many other groups across the Southeast. His writing has been published in the Blue Book, a Tapspace Publication.