Mark Carlson (born June 13, 1952) is an American composer,[1][2][3] flutist, UCLA professor,[4] and the founder and artistic director of the chamber music ensemble Pacific Serenades.[5]
Born in Fort Lewis, Washington, and raised primarily in Modesto, California, Carlson attended Johnston College at the University of Redlands; received a B.A. from California State University, Fresno, in 1974, where he studied composition with Dennis Riley and David Bates; and received M.A. (1978) and Ph.D. (1984) degrees in Music Theory and Composition at UCLA, where he studied with Alden Ashforth and Paul Reale.[6] His principal flute teacher was Roger S. Stevens, with whom he studied privately beginning in 1972. In 1982, he founded the Los Angeles-based chamber ensemble, Pacific Serenades,[5] for which he continues to serve as artistic director. His more than 100 works include songs, chamber music, choral music, concertos, and music for orchestra and for symphonic wind ensemble. Carlson is a 2013 recipient of a letter of distinction from New Music USA for his "significant contribution to the field of contemporary American music" in founding and serving as artistic director of Pacific Serenades.[7]
Carlson has taught music theory, composition, orchestration, and classes at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music since 1985, and also taught music theory and composition at Santa Monica College[8] from 1993 to 2008. He retired from UCLA in July 2018 and is living in Palm Springs, California. Carlson is currently composing The Scarlet Letter,[9] an opera in-progress, with librettist Bruce Oldstad.[10]
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