Society of Peabody Alumni
Citation for the Peabody Distinguished Alumni Award
Presented to
Mark Markham
October 7, 2017
Mark Markham, today we congratulate you for your work as a substantive and committed artist of our time, and exemplary of the Peabody tradition. You are a renowned soloist, collaborator, and educator, known for your musical diversity and skilled interpretation.
After making your debut as a soloist with the New Orleans Symphony, you developed your musical gifts at Peabody, receiving your bachelors, masters, and doctorate here. Under the tutelage of Ann Schein, you won several local and international competitions, and gave many inspiring recitals. You have performed at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the New York Public Library, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. You were appointed the pianist of the Contemporary Music Forum in Washington, DC, spending five seasons giving numerous premiere performances.
In 1990, you were invited to join the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory, where you spent ten years as a vocal coach. You have also served as a faculty member of Morgan State University, the Britten-Pears School in England, and the Norfolk Chamber Festival of Yale University. You have given master classes for pianists and singers throughout the world, and have been a guest lecturer for the Metropolitan Opera Guild and here at the Johns Hopkins University.
As a solo performer and collaborator, you spent twelve years living in the South of France, maintaining a busy schedule. For twenty seasons, you were the recital partner of renowned soprano Jessye Norman. In your time with Ms. Norman, you gave nearly 300 performances in thirty countries, including recitals at Carnegie Hall, the Philharmonie in Berlin, London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Salzburg Festival, Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, and at the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize Presentation to President Jimmy Carter in Oslo.
This past summer marked the first season of your vocal workshop, Singing in Sicily – a non-profit intensive training program for talented young singers from around the world.
You have made Peabody and Johns Hopkins proud with your continued excellence in performance and collaboration, your diverse career, and your generosity in supporting the talents of others. For this, the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association confers upon you the Distinguished Alumni Award.