Mark San Filippo Drummer, percussionist Birth date: February 10, 1976

Musical training/education:
Mark began playing the drums and studying privately at the age of twelve. Soon thereafter, he began forming and playing in small rock bands. At San Gabriel High School, he was a member of the marching band, while also studying orchestral percussion and earning a place in the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic. After high school, Mark attended Pasadena City College, taking courses in music and becoming more seriously involved in jazz. At PCC, he played in the orchestra and the percussion ensemble, as well as the jazz combo and big band, and took lessons in jazz drumming. He earned an AA in music and was awarded the Jazz Ensembles Award for outstanding contribution. Mark also attended the Colburn School of Performing Arts where he deepened his knowledge and experience of jazz performance. In 1998, Mark transfered to the University of Califorinia, Los Angeles. As a student in the Jazz Studies program, he took completed courses in music history, theory and performance. As a result of his excellence in jazz performance, Mark received numerous scholarships, including the prestigious Gluck Fellows Scholarship. He graduated Suma Cum Laude from UCLA in 2000, earning a BA in Ethnomusicology, Jazz Studies Concentration.

Teachers:
Mark has studied with an impressive array of master musicians, including drummers Billy Higgins and Sherman Ferguson, cornetist Bobby Bradford, arranger/composers Dirk Fischer and Gerald Wilson, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Anthony Wilson, saxophonist Harold Land, bassist Roberto Miguel Miranda, and Malian multi-instrumentalist/composer Cheick Tidiane Seck.

Professional experience:
At the age of fourteen, Mark began playing professionally as a rock drummer at venues in the Los Angeles area. During his college years, he freelanced extensively, playing in acclaimed salsa, swing and jazz bands in and around Los Angeles. In 1995 he cofounded a jazz piano trio and in late 1996 he became one of the original members of the Goliard Trio. Out of an already extensive list of musical engagements, Mark’s highlights include performing in the Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration at UCLA’s Royce Hall, with guest conductor Lalo Schiffrin and featuring jazz great Herbie Hancock on piano, and the Best of LA Festival, 2003.

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