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Carol of the Bells 1:250:00/1:25
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0:00/3:30
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0:00/3:18
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0:00/3:50
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0:00/3:57
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Again 4:570:00/4:57
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L-O-V-E 2:550:00/2:55
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0:00/2:21
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Come Fly with Me 2:500:00/2:50
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0:00/2:57
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Cheek to Cheek 3:070:00/3:07
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When I Fall in Love 3:520:00/3:52
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mark Fehrenbach – Full Biography
![mark Fehrenbach](http://d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/s:bzglfiles/u/531302/52b1c715a2df1d5e627ce4fed4d12be971cbbbbc/original/img-3297.jpeg/!!/b%3AW1siZXh0cmFjdCIseyJsZWZ0IjoxOTksInRvcCI6OTg1LCJ3aWR0aCI6MjU0MSwiaGVpZ2h0IjoyNTQxfV0sWyJyZXNpemUiLDEwMDBdLFsibWF4Il0sWyJ3ZSJdXQ%3D%3D/meta%3AeyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ%3D%3D.jpg)
Mark Fehrenbach
Bio – Full
The Early Years
It's hard to imagine this Bass singing Soprano, especially after hearing him in concert or in recordings during high school and up through today, but his vocal training began as a boy soprano. Along with his older brother John, he sang in the Men's and Boy's Choir of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Massillon, OH. One of the region's only Choirs of it's kind, they were directed by Mr. Harold Conte who was famous for throwing chalkboard erasers at the boys who were misbehaving during rehearsals and Mass. His voice began to change like his brother's, at the age of 12-1/2, so he did a lot of squeaking as he sang. The director still kept the Fehrenbach brothers in the choir through their eighth grade years however, which helped form their vocal foundation leading up to high school. Along with piano lessons and band starting in 5th grade for the boys and their sister every week, their home and school lives were filled with music.
Even before he was old enough to sing in the choir at St. Mary's, his mother, Charlotte, was taking him and his siblings with her up to the choir loft of St. Joseph's Melkite Church in Akron, OH. There, they learned to sing in Latin. His mother was a contralto, and his father, well, as his mother used to put it, "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket." But his father did play the trumpet. He played it from his youth up through college, participating in the marching band and a Dixie Land Jazz band himself. Paul gave Mark his instrument so that he could learn it in 5th grade for the school band. His brother John was already a year into the trombone, and his sister Dana came along to learn the flute 2 years later, and the youngest, Greg to play the drums, bringing up the rear (Mark was a little jealous, as that's what he wanted to play). So all of the children had a solid foundation in instruments and vocals as they entered high school.
High School
All of the Fehrenbachs siblings attended Central Catholic High School in Canton, OH. Mark sang and played in every high school music group that was offered. Instrumentally, he played trumpet in marching band, concert band, jazz band and brass choir (for which he learned the French horn). He competed in the Ohio Music Education Association's (OMEA) Solo and Ensemble competitions earning several top performance medals. Additionally, he and his brother John were invited to play Christmas Masses at St. Josephs' Catholic Church in Canton and at his alma mater, St. Mary's, as a part of a brass quartet request from the churches to the high school, enabling him to give back to his catholic community. He received a guitar for Christmas in his sophomore year as well and taught himself to play. This enabled him to give back to his high school catholic community by playing and singing in the school's music ministry at monthly Masses, a group which he ultimately lead in his senior year.
Vocally, he sang in the high school's main choir, and later in the mixed octet which was an upper-classman-only group. He was also selected in his senior year to sing bass in a barbershop quartet donned by the director, "The Four Mistakes." It was established many years before by Central's choral director, Richard Blaumeiser, and had a rich and popular history. Mark's brother John sang bass in the group the year before with Mike James singing lead, Brian Lombardi on baritone, and Tim Shilling piping whisky tenor.
The quartet rehearsed often outside of school at the Fehrenbach residence enabling Mark to sit in on rehearsals. Since all of the young men were friends, when it came time for Mark to audition for the group the following year, he was a near shoe-in to replace his brother, partially because he already knew the repertoire, and partially because he was emerging as a talented singer. So for the 1979-'80 school year, the group remained essentially unchanged. In both John's and Mark's years they sang for their own families often, practicing the on-stage antics and hijinks for which they were well known. Very popular locally, they sang around town upon request from local business clubs and retirement communities who would donate to the school for a performance from them. In Mark's year, they added some new repertoire including the very difficult, "Rigaletto Quartet," a spoof on the original opera. At one point in the piece, all four singers are singing a fugue with completely different lyrics from one another while carrying their harmonic parts. They also sang as a guest quartet at a rehearsal of the Hall of Fame Chorus, a chapter of SPEBSQSA at the time, garnering accolades from them. During the summer between Mark's high school and college years, the group actually landed a paid gig at a local restaurant/bar (to be left anonymous). Being that they were all still under age, the MC introduced them as a quartet from a local college in order to get them on stage. Ah yes, those were the days.
College
His formal collegiate music education came from both the University of Cincinnati and Kent State University. While studying design at UC, he earned acceptance to the conservatory of music in his freshman year. Later that school year, he sang in the Men's Glee Club under the direction of Dr. John Leman (recordings here). He toured with them in the Spring and also received formal training in choral conducting, percussion and the remaining brass instruments. He transferred to Kent per his parents' request to continue studies in design.
At Kent State he received his formal vocal training and advanced in classical piano. He also sang in the Men's Glee Club there under the direction of David Pegg, who studied under the highly acclaimed Robert Shaw. He was also the only non-music major vocalist accepted into the KSU Chorale, also conducted by Pegg, who passed along his knowledge and experience of Shaw's techniques. After his senior year at KSU, he was awarded a vocal music performance scholarship from the KSU School of Music. He was taught vocally there by James Mismas who also coached him after college and retired as a teacher at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music.
While singing with KSU’s Chorale he performed the Bass/Tenor Duet of "O die Frauen,” from Brahms' Der Liebeslieder Walzer during the ensemble’s performance at Stan Hywet Hall, in Akron, OH. The performance was broadcast live by NPR/WKSU radio. He also performed with the Chorale in their presentation of Mendelssohn’s dramatic biblical oratorio, “Elija” featuring over 300 voices of combined choirs. "It was so loud," he recalls, "you couldn't hear yourself sing!"
Post College
Big Band Swing and Jazz
Mr. Fehrenbach's appearances include performances as a soloist, and the Bass in The Canton Connection jazz quartet with The John Trapani Big Band, an eighteen-piece orchestra out of Canton, OH. He performed and recorded live with them for 9 seasons. They performed in concerts, arts festivals, and dances all over the Ohio Valley including the Canton Palace Theater, the band's concert home, The Akron Civic Theater, the Oberlin College summer concert series at Tappan Square, and at the The Historic Lafayette Hotel, Marietta, OH. Trapani's band specializes in the hits of the 30s, 40s and 50s of the big band era.
Even though he's not a baritone like Sinatra, nor a tenor like Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin, Mr. Fehrenbach still has the range for charts such as "New York, New York," Darin's "Mack the Knife," and the famous duet between the late Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie, "Unforgettable." The Canton Connection sang classic charts such as "Chattanooga Choo Choo" by the Glenn Miller Band, “Juke Box Saturday Night” by Tex Beneke and the Modernaires, and "On The Sunny Side of the Street" by the Pied Pipers and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Contemporary charts occasionally made it into the line-up as well such as "All I Want for Christmas is You" by the Manhattan Transfer, and their hit a cappella version of "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square."
Stage, Classical and Oratorio Recordings
He also lent his voice after college for two seasons to the Canton Players Guild's annual run of A Christmas Carol, Kent State Stark Theater’s production of Evita, and Canton Symphony Orchestra’s presentations of Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9.”
Sacred Music Recordings
In addition to the recordings on this site, he can also be heard on recordings of Mass for the Lamb of God by Frank Becker, Shatigarh’s Requiem for the Unborn by John Bonaduce, as well as One Spirit, One Church and "Chosen by God" by Kevin Keil.
Today
Mr. Fehrenbach can be described contemporarily as a classically trained Bass, singer/songwriter, composer, arranger and instrumentalist with a passion for vocal performance. He has performed in genre’s (as you may have read above) such as Big Band Swing, Jazz, Sacred, Christian, Classical, a Cappella, Musical Theater and Light Opera.
He has now recorded 3 LPs (Come Fly With Me is releasing soon), 2 EPs, several singles and has written 3 songs (2 recorded) along with the orchestra arrangements.
Recordings include his most recent original, "Again," released for Valentines weekend 2023. Mr. Fehrenbach wrote the lyrics, music and arrangement which has been receiving extraordinary reviews from listeners. A special instrumental version will be included on the Come Fly With Me LP.
His COME FLY WITH ME – LP contains fresh recordings that celebrate the Great American Songbook. 2 EPs have released giving listeners a preview of the larger album project; COME FLY WITH ME—Vol. 1 released in October, of 2022 and COME FLY WITH ME—Vol. 2 released on the eve before New Years Eve of 2022.
His Christmas LP titled BLESSED CHRISTMAS was released in 2022 and features the astonishingly beautiful voice of Ashley Knaack once again. The EP's tracks include Holiday favorites such as Carol of the Bells," "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "White Christmas."
Additionally, he wrote the lyrics, music and arrangement of his debut original Christmas single in 2021, "The Gift of the Unwrapping," and recorded his debut Christmas album, REJOICE AND BE MERRY, in 2020 which includes 12 Christmas favorites such as "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," "What Child is This" and "O Holy Night."
In addition to recording, Mr. Fehrenbach joined the Messiah Choral Society of central Florida in 2022 which celebrated it's 51st performance this year. It was performed for the second year in Steinmetz Hall located in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando, which has been award the disquished honor of being named one of the 6 best perfomance halls in the world. If you would like to get into the Christmas spirit, or just love this work, it can be listened to at the link above.
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