The critical plaudits which have greeted Mark Bebbington's performances and recordings have singled him out as a young British pianist of the rarest refinement and maturity. Increasingly recognised as a champion of British music, Mark has recorded extensively for SOMM "New Horizons" label to unanimous critical acclaim.

His most recent CD, released in June 2008, is Volume 1 in a complete cycle of John Ireland's solo piano music; to coincide with this, Mark is the front cover photo feature for the June edition of International Record Review magazine.

Two discs from last year have earned high critical praise: Elgar's First Symphony transcribed for solo piano by Sigfrid Karg-Elert coupled with Alan Bush's youthful Sonata op. 2, attracted a 5***** rating in November, 2007 BBC Music Magazine and an earlier disc - piano music by Constant Lambert and Malcolm Arnold - was Editor's Choice in February 2007 Gramophone magazine.

All these CDs are initial releases in an ongoing series recorded at Birmingham's Symphony Hall, where Mark has the distinction of becoming the first solo artist to record.

Future recordings include the completion of a Frank Bridge cycle (Volume 1 has become BBC Music Magazine's 'Benchmark Bridge' and was Instrumental Choice 5***** in the September, 2006 issue of the magazine) a CD of four British Piano Concertos with the CBSO and Howard Williams and a disc next year of Ireland's Piano Concerto and 'Legend', coupled with the premiere of Bax's Concertino for Piano and Orchestra with the Orchestra of the Swan and David Curtis.

His CD of Ivor Gurney has earned him a maximum 3*** rating in the current Penguin Guide to Classical CDs in recognition of "an outstanding performance and recording in every way."

Over recent seasons Mark has toured extensively throughout Central and Northern Europe (both as recitalist and as concerto soloist with many of the world's leading orchestras), as well as the Far East and North Africa. Within the UK, he has appeared with the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia Orchestras, London Mozart Players and the Orchestra of the Swan, at all the major London concert halls and at Birmingham's Symphony Hall, and he has featured both as concerto soloist and recitalist on BBC Television and Radio and also on major European Television and Radio networks.

Mark studied at the Royal College of Music where he was a recipient of numerous international awards and prizes, including a Leverhulme Scholarship, a Winston Churchill Fellowship, the Chappell Silver Medal and the Ivan Sutton Recording Prize - the latter awarded to the one outstanding graduate of the combined London Music Colleges. He later studied in Italy with the legendary Aldo Ciccolini.

Mark's programming demonstrates a commitment to the music of our time and he regularly includes contemporary composers as diverse as Takemitsu, Julian Anderson, John McCabe, Francis Pott, John Joubert and Elliot Carter in his recital series.

No less a passionate advocate of the Viennese classics, Mark is also establishing a reputation as a refined and elegant exponent of French music and over recent years he has given critically acclaimed South Bank and Paris recitals with special emphasis on French nineteenth- and twentieth-century pianistic traditions. His French debut in the capital’s Musée des Invalides Grands Interprétes, Premières Armes Series, was described by Aldo Ciccolini as "one of the most brilliant debuts I have witnessed in the capital", and his Erik Satie concert, featuring the UK première of Sports et divertissements in its original version for narrator and piano toured festivals in this country before playing sold-out performances at 'le chat blanc' cabaret club in Montmartre.

Projects for 2007/8 include continuing releases for the SOMM label of twentieth-century British piano music, a critically acclaimed disc of Mozart Piano Concertos K413, 414, 415 with the Orchestra of the Swan and David Curtis, appearances in major concert series and festivals in the UK and within Europe (including a debut at the Husum ''Piano Rarities'' Festival in Germany) and London recitals at St John’s Smith Square.