Mark Edwards

Biography

First-prize winner of the Musica Antiqua Bruges International Harpsichord Competition, Canadian harpsichordist and organist Mark Edwards is recognized for his captivating performances, bringing the listener “to new and unpredictable regions, using all of the resources of his instrument...of his virtuosity, and of his imagination” (La Libre Belgique). He began teaching at Oberlin Conservatory in 2016.

Edwards has given solo recitals at a number of prominent festivals and concert series, including the Utrecht Early Music Festival, Bozar (Brussels), and the Montreal Baroque Festival. He has had concerto performances with a number of award-winning ensembles, including Il Gardellino (Belgium), Neobarock (Germany), Ensemble Caprice (Canada), and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. An active chamber musician, he is the artistic director of Poiesis, collaborates regularly with Les Boréades de Montréal and Les Délices (Cleveland), and has performed with ensembles including Tafelmusik, Il Pomo d’Oro, and Pallade Musica.

Edwards' debut solo CD, Orpheus Descending, was released in 2017 and was reviewed warmly. Passaggi (ATMA 2013), his CD with the Canadian recorder player Vincent Lauzer, was nominated for an ADISQ award. His performances have been broadcast by American Public Media, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Klara (Belgium), and Radio 4 (Netherlands).

In 2021, Edwards earned a PhD from Leiden University after successfully defending his dissertation titled “Moving Early Music: Improvisation and the Work-Concept in Seventeenth-Century French Keyboard Performance.” His former teachers include Robert Hill, William Porter, Hank Knox, and David Higgs.