Mark Serkin began studying the piano at the age of seven. Making the complete switch to the cello at fourteen made him a late bloomer, but did not deter him from pursuing it professionally. His earlier achievements include the second place in the Korean Radio Broadcasting New York International Music Competition and the Gold Winner place at the National Young Musicians Showcase Competition (2013). Mark was awarded with the opportunity to play at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Merkin Concert Hall, New York.
Serkin has participated in many festivals such as NY Phil Biennial, Kinhaven Music School, Meadowmount School of Music, Manchester Music Festival, Taconic Music, Luzerne Music Center, and the National Orchestra Institute and Festival, where he was recorded for the Naxos label in 2015 and 2016 albums. In April 2017, Mark was a featured artist on the Classic FM Radio in London performing multi-screen arrangement of a Fauré fugue for four cellos.
Mark is a cello and chamber music coach for the Face the Music program affiliated with Kaufman Music Center in New York City, cello faculty at Scherzo Music School in Summit, NJ, and holds his own private studio in person and over zoom.
Mark has performed in solo and chamber master classes for artists such as Steven Isserlis, Philippe Muller, Denis Shapovalov, Sharon Robinson, Timothy Eddy, Robert DeMaine, Jonathan Spitz, Peter Stumpf, Julia Lichten, Gloria dePasquale, Stefan Milenkovich, Kronos Quartet, Horszowski Trio, and the Miró Quartet. His main mentors include Hans Jørgen Jensen and Vladimir Panteleyev (cello performance), Todd Phillips (chamber), Nancy Wilson (baroque chamber).
Mark is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at Rutgers University where he studies with cellist Jonathan Spitz, Principal Cello of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. He holds both a bachelor’s degree and a masters degree with honors from the Mannes School of Music in New York City. Mark studied with the internationally renowned cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, former cellist of the renowned Kronos Quartet for his masters degree. He also studied with Barbara Stein Mallow, a highly respected and celebrated chamber musician and teacher. During his time at Mannes, he was principal cellist of the Mannes Orchestra. He has performed at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, and various other venues. As a member of Trio Solace, they were 2021 recipients of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward grant.
Mark plays a modern cello made by Lawrence Wilke in 2023, as well as a Johannes Jais cello made in 1778, brought back to life by Master Violin Maker Alexander Yurovitsky, in Brooklyn, New York.