Mark Ferguson

Mr Mark Ferguson

Lecturer

Elder Conservatorium of Music

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics


Mark Simeon Ferguson is a composer, orchestrator, arranger, song-writer, pianist and musical director with jazz as his foundation. He has special interests in contemporary orchestral writing, Afro-Caribbean music, song-writing for upper primary school children and contemporary jazz piano trio music.

Mark was born in Whyalla and raised in the lower north of South Australia.

He was a finalist in the National Jazz Awards in 1999 and in the same year he completed a Master of Music at the University of Adelaide. In 2018 he was co-curator of the International Jazz Day celebrations for the Adelaide Festival Centre.

His commissions for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra include the orchestration of Pudnanthi Padninthi (their Kaurna welcome) (2021) and the shows ASO Does Latin with the Marmalade Man (2018), Herman and Rosie (2016) and The Bush Concert (2014) [which has also been performed by the SSO in the Opera House, the MYO in the Recital Centre and the ASO in Harbin, China].

In 2021 he was commissioned, through the ABC Jazz Composer Commissioning Fund to write and record his new project Where Emus Roam the Streets.  In 2020 he released his sixth album, Songs From an Imperfect World on the Wizardtone Label.

In 2020 he arranged songs for the Australian String Quartet’s Ukaria livestream broadcast.

He composed the theme song for Six Foot Something's production The Alphabet of Awesome Science touring Australia 2022 and composed the music for their 2022 production You Are A Doughnut. He created the song cycles The Moral of the Story (2013) and Next Stop North Terrace (2018) for the SA Public Primary Schools Music Festival. 

As a pianist Mark has performed with Rufus Wainwright, Mark Murphy, Tina Arena, Paul Capsis, Lady Rizo, Vika and Linda Bull and Ray Vega.  He has been Musical Director for shows for Johanna Allen, Camille O’Sullivan (including her Helpmann Award-winning Changeling tour), UNSUNG (the Frank Ford Commission for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2018) the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s 2022 Variety Gala, 2021 Opening Gala, 2017 and 2018 Closing Gala, the AFC’s 2018 Walk of Fame Gala and QPAC’s 2019 Songs of Hope and Healing.

Mark’s latin-jazz ensemble Marmalade Circus has recorded five albums and performed at the Manly and Thredbo Jazz Festivals and the Sydney Festival.

His first major tours were with children’s entertainer Peter Combe in 1993. Mark then toured Australia and Singapore in his own ensemble Marmalade Jam for Musica Viva in Schools from 2002-2013.

Currently Mark is Head of Jazz in the Elder Conservatorium. He lectured in Jazz History for 15 years, Jazz Improvisation for 20 years, and currently lectures in Jazz Musicianship (commencing 2016), Jazz Piano (commencing 1992), Latin Jazz Ensemble (commencing 2009) and Jazz Arranging (commencing 2020). He led the inaugural Jazz Study tour to New York City and Washington DC in February 2020.

Mark Simeon Ferguson is a composer, orchestrator, arranger, song-writer, pianist and musical director with jazz as his foundation. He has special interests in contemporary orchestral writing, Afro-Caribbean music, song-writing for upper primary school children and contemporary jazz piano trio music.

Mark was a finalist in the National Jazz Awards in 1999 and in the same year he completed a Master of Music at the University of Adelaide. In 2018 he was co-curator of the International Jazz Day celebrations for the Adelaide Festival Centre. In 2022 he received the APRA AMCOS Luminary Award for South Australia for sustained contribution to Education, Composition and Jazz Performance.

His commissions for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra include the orchestration of Pudnanthi Padninthi (their Kaurna welcome) (2021) and the shows ASO Does Latin with the Marmalade Man (2018), Herman and Rosie (2016) and The Bush Concert (2014) [which has also been performed by the SSO in the Opera House, the MYO in the Recital Centre and the ASO in Harbin, China].

In 2021 he was commissioned, through the ABC Jazz Composer Commissioning Fund to write and record his new project Where Emus Roam the Streets. The album was released in 2022 with a concerts in Elder Hall and the Beltana Progress Hall—Beltana is the 'ghost town' at the centre of the project.  In 2020 he released his sixth album, Songs From an Imperfect World on the Wizardtone Label.

He composed the theme song for Six Foot Something's production The Alphabet of Awesome Science touring Australia 2022 and composed the music for their 2022 production You Are A Doughnut. He created the song cycles The Moral of the Story (2013) and Next Stop North Terrace (2018) for the SA Public Primary Schools Music Festival. 

As a pianist Mark has performed with Rufus Wainwright, Mark Murphy, Tina Arena, Paul Capsis, Lady Rizo, Vika and Linda Bull and Ray Vega.  He has been Musical Director for shows for Johanna Allen, Camille O’Sullivan (including her Helpmann Award-winning Changeling tour), UNSUNG (the Frank Ford Commission for Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2018) the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s 2022 Variety Gala, 2021 Opening Gala, 2017 and 2018 Closing Gala, the AFC’s 2018 Walk of Fame Gala and QPAC’s 2019 Songs of Hope and Healing. In 2022 he was Musical Director/arranger/pianist/backing vocalist for two new major shows in Adelaide Cabaret Festival: Tina Arena's Songs My Mother Taught Me at Her Majesty's Theatre (also featuring Lior, Wendy Matthews, Sophie Koh, Thando and Jess Hitchcock), and Lou Blackwell's  show Love on the Left Bank, in the Dunstan Playhouse.

In 2020 he arranged songs for the Australian String Quartet’s Ukaria livestream broadcast.

Mark’s latin-jazz ensemble Marmalade Circus has recorded five albums and performed at the Manly and Thredbo Jazz Festivals and the Sydney Festival.

His first major tours were with children’s entertainer Peter Combe in 1993. Mark then toured Australia and Singapore in his own ensemble Marmalade Jam for Musica Viva in Schools from 2002-2013.

Currently Mark is Head of Jazz in the Elder Conservatorium. He lectured in Jazz History for 15 years, Jazz Improvisation for 20 years, and currently lectures in Jazz Musicianship (commencing 2016), Jazz Piano (commencing 1992), Latin Jazz Ensemble (commencing 2009) and Jazz Arranging (commencing 2020). He led the inaugural Jazz Study tour to New York City and Washington DC in February 2020.

 

  • Appointments

    Date Position Institution name
    2018 - ongoing Head of Jazz University of Adelaide
    2016 - ongoing Lecturer in Jazz Piano University of Adelaide
    2010 - 2019 Director of Youth Superband 1-term 4 JAZZSA
    2003 - 2017 Tutor in Jazz Improvisation Marryatville High School
    2001 - 2015 Casual Lecturer in Jazz History University of Adelaide
    1993 - 2015 Casual Lecturer in Jazz Improvisation University of Adelaide
    1992 - 2015 Casual Lecturer in Jazz Piano University of Adelaide
  • Awards and Achievements

    Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount
    2022 Award APRA AMCOS Luminary Award APRA AMCOS Australia -
    2019 Award Student-led Teaching Award, Arts Lecturer University of Adelaide Australia $2000
    1999 Achievement Semi-finalist National Jazz Awards 1999 Wangaratta Jazz Festival Australia -
  • Education

    Date Institution name Country Title
    1999 University of Adelaide Aus Master of Music
  • Research Interests

Course Title Institution Course Level/ Code
Jazz History The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 1010
Jazz Performance 1A / 1B The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 1001 / 1002
Jazz Performance 2A / 2B The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 2001 / 2002
Jazz Performance 3A / 3B The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 3001 / 3002
Jazz Musicianship 1A / 1B The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 1101 / 1102
Jazz Musicianship 2A / 2B The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 2101 / 2102
Jazz Musicianship 3 The University of Adelaide MUSJAZZ 3101
Jazz Arranging The University of Adelaide MUSGEN 3007
Music Professional Development 1A / 1B The University of Adelaide MUSGEN 1201 / 1202
Music Professional Development 2A / 2B The University of Adelaide MUSGEN 2201 / 2202
Music Professional Development 3A / 3B The University of Adelaide MUSGEN 3201 / 3202
  • Position: Lecturer
  • Phone: 83133828
  • Email: mark.ferguson@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Madley, floor MB
  • Org Unit: Elder Conservatorium of Music

Connect With Me
External Profiles

Other Links