Music
Solo Acoustic Guitar Music
Precious Things Worth Keeping is a collection of four solo guitar instrumentals. These four pieces have been floating around in one form or another for a while, some almost 10 years, some almost 20 years. I finally got a chance to complete these solo guitar arrangements and record them on one of my dad's old guitars.
15 original compositions for solo acoustic guitar
A 20th-anniversary rerelease of my 2003 album
"Mark Sylvester is blessed with unusual musical talent. He plays acoustic guitar, fretless and upright bass, banjo and mandolin with astounding proficiency. "Urban Nocturne" showcases my favorite aspect of Sylvester's performances, his ability to sound melancholy and playful simultaneously."
- WashingtonPost.com
New Music for Banjo (2009)
Winner of the 2009 Wammie Award for Classical Recording, Mark Sylvester's New Music for Banjo is a collection of original contemporary chamber music featuring the five-string banjo. These four pieces were premiered by Great Noise Ensemble, and several musicians from GNE join Mark and his banjo on this recording.
"It isn't often that the banjo is used as a classical instrument. But for Mark Sylvester, the unusual use of the banjo sounds surprisingly normal and appropriate...Subtle, sparse, and strikingly beautiful...the banjo seems to bring out the more organic side of classical music. A refreshing change of pace... (Rating: 5+)"
- LNMOP / babysue
Banjo Chamber Concerto
Performed by Great Noise Ensemble (28 February 2013)
The Only Animal (Music for Live Theater)
Nothing But Sky (Vancouver, BC, 2014)
Joe's Theme
Nix (Whistler, BC, 2010) (Calgary, Alberta, 2009)
Other Freds (Vancouver, BC, 2005)
Tree Surgeons (Avant Folk)
Witness (2000)
Eye of Time (1998)
Other Recordings
Terry Riley's In C (2019)
Mark: mandolin
Philip Glass's The Fall of the House of Usher (2019)
Mark: electric guitar
Jason Mendelson's MetroSongs, volume 7: (2017)
Mark: electric guitar solo at the end of "Congress Heights"
Carey Creed (2016)
Mark: acoustic guitar on "Carol of the Willing" and "Carol of the Donkey"
Great Noise Ensemble: Guerrilla New Music (2013)
Mark: producer, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin
Lea: Promise (2012)
Mark: classical guitar on "23"; upright bass, banjo, and mandolin on "Bread Alone"
banjo on "Guarantee"
Fred Smith: Texas (2008)
Mark: co-producer, recording engineer, upright bass, bass guitar, acoustic guitars, djembe
Frencham and Smith: Lovethongs (2007)
Mark: recording engineer, guitars, banjo
Iain Campbell Smith: Ballads and Barsongs (2007)
Mark: recording engineer, upright bass, acoustic guitar
Verlette Simon: Proof of Life (2007)
Mark: acoustic guitars, banjo, percussion
Sense of Wonder: Open the Gate (2006)
Mark: upright bass
Cedar Belly: 3 a.m. stars (2005)
Mark: recording engineer