Clarinetist, Mark Gallagher, is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he received a Bachelor of Music degree in clarinet performance and studied with Lawrence McDonald.  He also holds a Masters of Music in Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music having studied with D. Stanley Hasty and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Other major teachers included Robert Marcellus and Alfred Zezter, both of the Cleveland Orchestra and Dr. Linda Bartley who is the clarinet professor at University of Wisconsin.  Dr. Gallagher has performed with the Washington Contemporary Music Forum, Musique Vivante de Paris, United States Navy Band, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Bronx Symphony, New York City Ballet Orchestra, and the Skylight Opera Theatre Orchestra.   

He made his New York recital debut performing with violinist Sylvia Rosenberg at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, and is also a winner of the Artist International Competition in New York City, being award a solo recital in Weill Hall.  An active chamber musician and co-founder of I Venti Semplice, Dr. Gallagher has performed throughout the United States and Europe, including a recent concert tour of the Netherlands and a live national radio broadcast from the Concertgebouw. Other performances include appearances in Washington, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Ann Arbor, Portland (OR), Wisconsin Public Radio, as well as concert tours of France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Scotland.  Dr. Gallagher has recorded with the Albany Records label and can be heard on the Eastman “American Music” Series.

In addition to a busy performance schedule, Dr. Gallagher is an active teacher and clinician. He lectures on occupational health issues for musicians and the Alexander Technique.  He is presently the instructor of clarinet and music theory at Frostburg State University and has held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Carroll College, and is now the director of faculty at the Semplice Harbor Music Settlement on Washington Island and artistic director for the Great Lakes Chamber Music during the summer.