About
Mark is a session player and composer. He has worked with industry leaders from Quincey Jones and Stevie Wonder to Boyz II Men and Tom Petty. He is an expert in a wide variety of styles.
Mark Hollingsworth grew up in a suburb south of Chicago. He began piano lessons reluctantly, at five years old. After a few years, he enthusiastically started saxophone. In high school he started working on flute and clarinet.
At Berklee College of Music, he studied with the legendary saxophone teacher Joe Viola. Having graduated magna cum laude, Mark was handed his diploma by Quincey Jones. They would have a chance to reminisce a few years later when working together in Los Angeles.
After two of years working as a musician on cruise ships, Mark moved to LA and a year later began touring with Tom Jones. This helped begin to establish Mark in Los Angeles as a freelance woodwind player. Within a few years he quit touring and focused on studio recording, playing in jazz groups, and playing shows.
Ethnic flutes became an obsession a few years later. This exploration lead to recording Chinese and bamboo flutes live with orchestra on the internationally acclaimed film: “Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl”
Another part of Mark’s career had been doing arrangements, primarily for horns. In order to prepare for upcoming albums, he wanted to study arranging, orchestration and composition more thoroughly and so devoted two years to studying privately with the great composer and orchestrator Jack Smalley. Jack also introduced Mark to film scoring for which he quickly developed a deep passion.
Starting in 2001, Mark started working for a music house, Beacon Street Studios regularly as a player. Within a short time, he was arranging and recording at home for them. A few years later, he was writing and fully producing music for commercials and films. It was here that he also produced three alert tones for the iPhone, which are still included on iPhones today.
Expertise in arranging and copying led to a teaching position at UCLA Extension from 2011-2014. The course trained students in using Sibelius and understanding what was expected when presenting printed music to professional musicians.
Mark was the composer for three seasons of the Disney XD show: Kirby Buckets. Besides the demanding schedule, this show helped refine his ability to write and compose in an ultra-eclectic pallet of styles.
Mark was asked to write a big band piece for a project that turned out to be the Oscar-winning Joker Movie. The piece was the theme for Robert DeNiro’s character, a Johnny Carson-like talk show host. The piece was Murray’s Theme – Joker Movie with Jud Crane for Founder Music.
Composition, production, and playing at the highest levels have been a passion for Hollingsworth, and the wide-ranging nature of his work continues to provide opportunities for growth.