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Tonelli
Member Since: 2009 | Location: Chicago | Page Views: 1,039 
About Me
Guitarist, composer, educator
Mark Tonelli is an internationally-renowned musician and educator who has performed in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Holland, and Ukraine and in twenty-six U.S. states. Mark is associate professor of music and coordinator of Guitar Studies in the School of Music at Millikin University, where he coordinates the guitar studies program and teaches courses in commercial music. Mark created the long-running course Arts Cafe, a live-performance venue that students operate, which features innovative programming across the arts spectrum. Mark is a recipient of Millikin's Research & Artistic Achievement Award and has been a Road Scholar for Illinois Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar to Brazil. Mark has enjoyed a career performing with a wide variety of artists: American Idols Clay Aiken and Phil Stacey; Broadway legends Rita Moreno and Carol Channing; rock icons The Platters and Greg Bissonette; crooners Bobby Rydell and Al Martino; jazz musicians Jon Faddis and Ed Soph; European piano star Marina Arsenijevic; and YouTube sensation Lexi Walker. He has been seen on the Emmy-nominated television show My St. Louis Live. Mark had residencies in three major music hubs--- New York City, Dallas, and Kansas City. In NY, he performed at NYC's 55 Bar, Cornelia St. Cafe, and St. Peter's Church; in the Dallas area, at Sambuca, The Ft. Worth Jazz Festival, The Dallas Museum of Art, and a two-year weekly residency at My Martini in Arlington; and in Kansas City he has performed at Green Lady Lounge, Blue Room, and The Art Factory. Mark's group has released three critically-acclaimed CD's on the MTonal Music label. Mark is also the leader of Afolia, a St. Louis-based ensemble dedicated to performing hidden gems from Brazil. For ten years, Mark was the guitarist for the West Point Band's Jazz Knights, touring and performing in some of the nation's top venues, including Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, Jazz Showcase, Kennedy Center, Jazz Kitchen, Avery Fisher Hall, Count Basie Theatre, The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, and The Midwest Clinic. With the Jazz Knights, Mark performed with a who's who of jazz legends including Benny Golson, Billy Cobham, Bobby Watson, Randy Brecker, Steve Turre, Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, John Riley, Claudio Roditi, Adam Nussbaum, as well as the Boston Pops and the New York Philharmonic Brass Quintet. As a Fulbright Scholar, Mark served as a visiting professor of music at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where he directed ensembles, taught jazz improvisation, and gave electric guitar lessons. Mark subsequently returned to Brazil with the Millikin University Brazilian Ensemble for a ten-day performance residence in the city of Uberlândia, the first time in the university's history that a group traveled to Brazil. He has traveled across the country giving masterclasses at universities and performing in the cities of São Paulo, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Londrina, Campinas, Goiânia, Uberlândia, and Uberaba. Mark was selected for a second Fulbright to Brazil, where he returned in fall 2025 to make a recording of original compositions inspired by Brazilian culture, alongside Brazilian musicians. The album, Brasiliana, will be released in 2026 on the Artists Recording Collective (ARC) label. Mark's music has been featured on National Public Radio's (NPR) All Things Considered. He has been a winner or finalist in the Billboard Magazine World Song Contest, USA Songwriting Competition, and The Great American Song Contest. His large jazz ensemble arrangements are published by UNC Jazz Press and FJH Music, and his music for guitar ensemble is published by Guitar Chamber Press. Mark is the author of five books. Everybody's Jazz Guitar Method, Way To Play: Jazz Guitar Riffs and Chords, and Way To Play: Chord Melody are published by the FJH Music Company. Entrepreneurship in Action: The Power of Student-Run Ventures, and Cases on Arts Entrepreneurship, both the first books of their kind, are published by Edward Elgar. He has made presentations at major music conferences, including those of the Jazz Education Network , National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the College Music Society. Mark holds a doctorate in education from Columbia University, a master of music in jazz studies from the University of North Texas, and a bachelor of music in jazz performance from William Paterson College. He proudly endorses D'Addario Strings, Eastman Guitars, and Campoy Guitars.
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This page was last updated on 2026-03-03.
