Based in Sydney, solo double bass player Mark Cauvin trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Alex Henery and the Scuola Internazionale d’Alto Perfezionamento Musicale in Italy with virtuoso/composer Fernando Grillo.
In 2009 Mark has premiered and recorded works for solo double bass by Fernando Grillo, Giacinto Scelsi, David Young and his realisation of the score Plus Minus by Karlheinz Stockhausen at La Mama Theatre, Sydney Conservatorium and for ABC Classic FM.
In 2008, Mark was awarded a grant from the Australian Arts Council to record a double CD of modern works for solo double bass that he named Transfiguration. Mark’s performances of works by Iannis Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi, László Dubrovay, Fernando Grillo and Luciano Berio have been reviewed favourably in Europe and Australia. The Wire (UK) magazine hailed the recording as “a brilliant debut”. While the Sydney-based RealTimeArts.net described the CD as “breathtakingly sensuous... Cauvin leads us to a new appreciation of the musical possibilities of the double bass.”
He has performed with major contemporary arts festivals and organisations throughout Australia including Melbourne’s 10th Liquid Architecture Festival, the Adelaide and Perth International Arts Festivals and the New Music Network.
Mark defines himself not so much as a ‘double bass musician’, but rather as an artist or sound practitioner who composes, performs and researches. With a strong focus and background in visual and conceptual arts, Mark now brings European avant-garde concepts into the performance of new and exciting Australian compositions.
Using a prepared microphone for some works as part of Mark’s approach to inventing a new language for the double bass, the emphasis is less on melody and technical execution, and more concerned with shaping alternately beautiful, intriguing and arresting moments of sound.
In 2009 Mark has premiered and recorded works for solo double bass by Fernando Grillo, Giacinto Scelsi, David Young and his realisation of the score Plus Minus by Karlheinz Stockhausen at La Mama Theatre, Sydney Conservatorium and for ABC Classic FM.
In 2008, Mark was awarded a grant from the Australian Arts Council to record a double CD of modern works for solo double bass that he named Transfiguration. Mark’s performances of works by Iannis Xenakis, Giacinto Scelsi, László Dubrovay, Fernando Grillo and Luciano Berio have been reviewed favourably in Europe and Australia. The Wire (UK) magazine hailed the recording as “a brilliant debut”. While the Sydney-based RealTimeArts.net described the CD as “breathtakingly sensuous... Cauvin leads us to a new appreciation of the musical possibilities of the double bass.”
He has performed with major contemporary arts festivals and organisations throughout Australia including Melbourne’s 10th Liquid Architecture Festival, the Adelaide and Perth International Arts Festivals and the New Music Network.
Mark defines himself not so much as a ‘double bass musician’, but rather as an artist or sound practitioner who composes, performs and researches. With a strong focus and background in visual and conceptual arts, Mark now brings European avant-garde concepts into the performance of new and exciting Australian compositions.
Using a prepared microphone for some works as part of Mark’s approach to inventing a new language for the double bass, the emphasis is less on melody and technical execution, and more concerned with shaping alternately beautiful, intriguing and arresting moments of sound.