Mark Gillespie

As an YOA’S Artistic Manager, Mark Gillespie has led projects with artists that include Valery Gergiev, Joshua Bell, Philip Glass, Gabriela Montero, Paquito D’Rivera, Helmuth Rilling, Julian Rachlin, Matt Haimovitz, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Ben Zander, Ilya Gringolts, and others throughout the Americas and Europe. In 2010 Mark co-founded Filarmónica Joven de Colombia with a 10 million dollar commitment from Sociedades Bolívar, representing the largest private-sector music initiative in the history of Colombia.

Formerly a record producer and song-writer, Mark worked extensively in the popular music industry, including a year with hit-maker Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, whose songs recorded by artists including Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Beyoncé have sold more than 300 million copies, ranking him among the world’s most successful super-producers. Mark has collaborated with members of bands including Lifehouse and Vampire Weekend, and worked in projects internationally at studios such as Rainbow (Oslo) and Victor (Montreal).

An alumnus of Laval, Stavanger, McGill, and Bishops Univeristies in Europe and Canada, Mark has presented lectures at University of Oslo, New York University, University of Toronto, Univeristy of Rome, Harvard University, The Swedish Cultural Institute of Paris, the Organization of American States, Carleton University, and Saint John’s Universities, among other institutions. Mark is a fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar, on whose Faculty he served in 2011. Hehas published articles in Music Theory Review, Music Theory Spectrum, Journal of the Art of Record Production, and elsewhere. Mark has appeared on a number of international television programs including Caracol [Colombia] and Globo TV [Brazil], and has been profiled by magazines including Washington Life.

Mark Gillespie has acted as Artistic Manager of YOA Orchestra of the Americas since 2008. He grew up between South & Southeast Asia and Mclean, Virginia, graduating from The Potomac School