Mark Smerdon of Angata Music

Mark Smerdon

Mark Smerdon currently lives with his wife, Kathy, in the Pitjantjatjara Lands in the centre of Australia, where he teaches music at one of the Anangu schools. The Anangu are the people who are indigenous to that region of Australia. He was born in January 1953 (you do the maths) in England while his parents were on a working holiday there. This makes him a citizen of the European Union, even though he speaks with the usual Aussie accent!

Mark�s formal music training came between the age of eight and fourteen from Sister Theresa, the very talented music teacher at his Primary School in Adelaide. She recognised his love of composition and encouraged it. With such little formal training, Mark had to pick up what training he could from any source available. His father�s mother was the pianist at the local (silent) picture theatre operated by her husband in the 1920s. She was a brilliant pianist who could sight-read anything perfectly and also play any tune by ear. She passed this love of music on to her children. Mark�s father played string bass in the Adelaide Symphony orchestra for about forty years, which must be an all-time record.

After leaving school Mark played bass in amateur orchestras and dance bands, but mainly in small ensembles where he wrote much of the repertoire. While living in the Snowy Mountains of Australia, he was Composer in Residence in a country town. Mark�s music is performed by Symphony Orchestras and ensembles at various international venues and is occasionally heard on Australian National radio.