Unique among bassists, Mark Henry is a busy freelancer in both the jazz and classical worlds. As a player with the Boston Pops and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestras, his performances in both the bass section and rhythm section have led him to numerous Pops tours across the United States, Carnegie Hall, Paris, Japan and Korea and several CD recordings such as “Holiday Pops”, “Sleigh Ride” and “Encore!”. Other orchestra performances include the Boston Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Pro Arte Orchestra, Boston Ballet, Boston Lyric Opera, Portland Symphony, Vista Philharmonic and Lowell Chamber Orchestra as well as his own doublebass recitals.
His jazz sideman credits include performances with Byron Stripling, Denzal Sinclaire, Mel Tormé, Cab Calloway, Art Farmer, Maureen McGovern, Scott Hamilton, Diane Schuur, Rosemary Clooney and Illinois Jacquet. As a member of The Jazz Pops Ensemble, the quartet has appeared as a featured guest with orchestras around the country, including the Boston Pops.
In the orchestra pit, Mark has played numerous musicals and stage acts such as, A Light in the Piazza, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Porgy & Bess, Les Miserables, The Wiz, West Side Story, Evita, Beauty and the Beast, Charlotte Church and Bjork. Instructing classical and jazz bass and electric bass, he is on the faculty at Wellesley College, having taught over thirty years there. He was a guest clinician at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival for fourteen years and bass instructor at the University of Massachusetts/Lowell for twenty years.
