Dr. Mark A. Nelson
Chair of Performing Arts
Director of Bands
Pima Community College, West Campus
2202 W. Anklam Road
Tucson AZ 85709-0015
Office: CFAMUS 03, Phone: 520-206-6826, E-Mail: mark.nelson@pima.edu
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Dr. Mark A. Nelson has been on the faculty of Pima Community College since the fall of 2000. At present, he is the Chair of Performing Arts (Music, Theatre, Dance) and Director of Bands. He also maintains the Electronic Music Laboratory where he teaches the Intro to Electronic Music courses. He also teaches multiple sections of Music Fundamentals. Prior to his appointment at Pima Community College, he was the Chair of Performing Arts and Director of Orchestras at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. He also performed as Principal Tubist with the Tempe Symphony Orchestra. From 1993-1998 he rose to the rank of Professor of Music (tenured) and Chair of Academic Studies at the School of Music of Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. He also performed with the Millikin Brass Quintet, the Millikin-Decatur Symphony, and the Illinois Symphony. From 1984-1993 he was Associate Professor of Music (tenured), Director of Bands, and Coordinator of Music Education at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. While in Vermont, he was Principal Tubist of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Vermont Brass Quintet and the Vermont Town Brass. He began his teaching career as the strings and band instructor for Cherokee School (K-8) in the Scottsdale Unified School District.
Dr. Nelson holds the Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, the Licentiate Performer's Diploma in Tuba from Trinity School of Music, London, the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, and the Master of Education degree in Administration and Planning from the University of Vermont. In addition to his degrees, he holds a valid Arizona K-12 teaching certificate in music and the Arizona lifetime community college teaching certificate.
Dr. Nelson has been a pioneer in the development of new solo literature for the tuba. He has commissioned and premiered over thirty new works over the last thirty years and has appeared as a soloist, clinician, lecturer, and judge for many national and international music festivals in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and England. His book, The Tuba as Solo Instrument: Composer Biographies, was published in 1995 by the Tuba-Euphonium Press. He was also an associate editor of the definitive Tuba Source Book (first edition) published by Indiana University Press. He has a dozen tuba/euphonium ensemble arrangements published by Cimarron Music and Productions and the Tuba-Euphonium Press. He has released two critically acclaimed CD recordings "New England Reveries," and "Aboriginal Voices." He also has many articles published on a variety of music and education topics in the International Tuba Euphonium Association (ITEA) Journal, Music Educators Journal, Arizona Music News, Vermont Music Educators News, Illinois Music Educators Journal, and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors Journal. He has also had published over two hundred fifty music and CD reviews in various journals. He continues as the Associate Editor of New Materials for the ITEA Journal having served in that position since 1990, and served on the Executive Board of ITEA as Secretary from 1995-1997. He served three terms as Vice-President for Professional Development for the Arizona Music Educators Association from 2005-2011. As a member of AMEA, Dr. Nelson was awarded the George C. Wilson Leadership Award in 2007 and the Excellence in Music Administration Award in 2011.
Dr. Nelson has also been a guest conductor and adjudicator for many band and solo/ensemble festivals in Vermont, Illinois, and Arizona. He has conducted regional and district honor bands in several states. He was also the principal writer of the New England Regional Solo Tuba and Euphonium list. Arizona festivals Dr. Nelson has been involved with include conducting the Northwest Regional High School Honor Band (2001) and most recently with the South Central Regional High School Honor Band (2008). He has also adjudicated for several Arizona Area High School Concert Festivals, the Arizona Pageant of Bands, the South Central Solo-Ensemble Festival, the SunCon Marching Band Invitational, the Flowing Wells Show of Shows Marching Band Festival, The I-19 Jazz Festival and the Coronado Middle School String Festival. In 2011 he again adjudicated the Arizona Pageant of Bands and the South Central Solo/Ensemble Festival. He was the co-host of the International Tuba Euphonium Conference at the University of Arizona in 2010. At the 2010 ITEC conference, Dr. Nelson was presented with the Clifford Bevan Award for Meritorious Work in Low Brass Scholarship. He is also the founding music director and conductor from 2005-2011of the Northwest Intergenerational Community Orchestra (NICO) housed at the Coronado K-8 School in the Amphitheater School District. It combines middle school, high school, community, and retired musicians into one orchestra that gives two concerts annually.
Dr. Nelson is an active performer as a soloist and chamber musician. He has given annual tuba recitals since 1975 and has presented solo recitals and master classes in many parts of the world. Each year he has a faculty tuba recital at Pima Community College and is often invited to perform at other colleges and events during the year. He recently presented a master class and recital at the Eastman School of Music in 2009. He gave a lecture on alternative careers for tuba and euphonium players at the 2011 Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference in Flagstaff, Arizona and is featured in the Pima Community College Speakers Series in November 2011. The topic is a lecture/performance on a 75 year retrospective history of the tuba as a solo instrument. He is a member of Symphonia, America's only professional Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, the bass trombonist with Big Band Express in Tucson, and has played and soloed with several community ensembles in the Tucson and Phoenix areas including the Arizona Symphonic Winds, Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra, Catalina Chamber Orchestra (Tucson Chamber Orchestra), and the Southwest Brass. He also performs on occasion with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and the Tucson Pops Orchestra.
last modified July 6, 2011