Biography
Mark Bilyeu is passionate about telling stories through song, and uses his platforms to joyfully share those stories with others. Recognized as a leader in the field of art song, he is the co-founder of Source Song Festival and is a sought-after partner of musicians from across the country. Recognized for his commitment to his community, the Star Tribune wrote “…Bilyeu… [is] to the Minnesota classical music scene what craft brewers are to the beer industry — purveyor of a distinctive local product, at a period when corporate brands and entities seem increasingly distant and distrusted.”
As a pianist, Mark has premiered nearly a hundred works, including works by Libby Larsen, David Evan Thomas, Matthew Recio, Rachel DeVore Fogarty, and Kala Peirson. He has also given American premieres by Brain Rosen and Noël Lee. He has performed at such venues as the Grand Théâtre de Tours (France), the Schubert Club (Minnesota), the Everson Museum (New York), PianoForte Foundation (Chicago), and the Belle Sylvester Recital Series of New York. He has been heard via live radio broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio with soprano Lori Phillips and tenor Matthew Vickers, and on Chicago’s WFMT via the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series. He was the only American finalist in the 2015 Das Lied Song Competition directed by Thomas Quasthoff, held in Berlin Germany.
He has studied at the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, the l’Académie Françis Poulenc, the Roger Vignoles Mentoring Program, Aspen Summer Music Festival, the Baldwin-Wallace Art Song Festival, the Vancouver International Song Institute, Musique sur mer en Acadie studying with pianist Susan Manoff and was a 2017 Crear Scholar studying with Malcolm Martineau in Scotland. He has participated in master classes given by Graham Johnson, Warren Jones, Julius Drake, Christoph Prégardien, Martin Katz, Jeff Cohen, Irwin Gage, Margo Garrett, Sir Thomas Allen, Joan Rogers, and François Le Roux.
As an educator, Mark has served as faculty at Viterbo University, he was the Visiting Artist in Vocal Coaching and Collaborative Piano at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as faculty coach for the Up North Vocal Institute. His freelance work took him to St. Olaf College, the University of Minnesota (Duluth), and Gustavus Adolphus College often working with over 100 students a semester. He is has been a guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), and was the leader and curator of the Schubert Club’s Listening Circle, where he is also a regular presenter of pre-concert lectures. Since 2021, he has served as the program annotator for the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin.
As a conductor, Mark serves as the Director of Music at The Church of St. Paul & the Redeemer in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. There, he leads a robust program including three choirs, dozens of instrumentalists, and is also the church’s primary organist. He led the South Metro Chorale as its Artistic Director from 2018 to 2022. During his tenure with the group, the chorus commissioned and/or premiered works by local composers Elizabeth Alexander, David Evan Thomas, Timothy C. Takch, and McKnight Visiting Fellow Sergio Barer. He was also the proud Associate Conductor of the Calliope Women’s Chorus – the nation’s second-oldest, all-female social justice chorus.
A graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts, he holds a Bachelor of Musical Arts where he studied with pianist Meng-Chieh Liu and vocal coach Dana Brown. Following graduation, he had the privilege of studying with Chicago Symphony pianist Mary Sauer. He completed a master’s degree in Vocal Coaching & Accompanying from the University of Minnesota, where he studied with Norriko Kawai and Timothy Lovelace.