Mark Finkin
piano

pianomyforte2@aol.com
(518) 791-2838.

Ever since the early days Mark always wanted to entertain friends and family. Although it was a bit difficult to gain the approval of deaf parents for a skill they could never appreciate they were tireless supporters of the young pianist who later influenced a family to follow in his footsteps.
Mark has a 50 year legacy in music that started in NYC where he attended Music and Art H.S. and after graduating high school attended college in Kansas and Hawaii. After leaving school yet unfinished in the mid 70's Mark returned to NYC to play more rock and pop venues and also recorded with Boris Midney who was a prominent jazz alto player from Russia.

Mark later moved to Florida and formed The Expedition which is where Mark started to develop a funky latin artistry. There was also an opportunity to develop a  sense of fusion artistry with Music of the Spheres and moved to Saratoga Springs in 1986 when he started working with Dick Spass and the Coachmen. Upon leaving the Coachmen Mark made inroads into local clubs in and around Saratoga Springs. Mark later composed and performed the music for Popeye Canfield which was a dramatic play performed at The Troy Music Hall and Cafe Lena's. Performing at The Lodge in Saratoga for over 12 years helped to hone his solo repertoire and allowed for original works and new arrangements to be perfected at The Lodge.

In 2004 Mark returned to college by attending Adirondack Community as a Music Major. Mark performed in the ACC Jazz Band and met some of the future players of the Latin Fusion project “Las Manos." Mark graduated from ACC in 2006 and transferred to Skidmore College under the University Without Walls program where Mark completed his B.A. under the instruction of  Mark Vinci and John Nazarenko. Mark performed in the Skidmore Jazz Band for all of the 2006 and 2007 school year and later used several players from the Skidmore Jazz Band to complete his final project “The Greatest Gift; A Jazz Suite in Signs and Riffs.”This final project utilized a jazz treatment of 12 hymns to tell the Greatest Story ever told. In the performance Mark's youngest daughter Bethany Finkin played violin and oldest daughter Alexis Cole sang in the finale. This performance triggered a CD production of “The Greatest Gift; Songs of the Season” for Motema records that features some Christmas selections from the original performance.

After graduating from Skidmore Mark embarked on a recording project with Las Manos. The soon to be released “Time On Our Hands” is a collection from the Finkin folio that reveals the Latin side of Mark Finkin that has been influenced by Tito Puente, Cal Tjader , Eddie Palmeri, Michelle Camillo, Spyro Gyra and  Al Jarreau.

Mark has performed at Sweet Rhythm NYC, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Troy Music Hall, Filene Hall, Saratoga City Center, St. Peters Church NYC , The Lodge and The Prime at Saratoga National.