Born in Montréal, Canada, Mark was the first child of two holocaust survivors. His heritage served to inspire his deep love of life and his wish for Universal Peace & Harmony. Choosing music as his voice for Peace, his journey began early in grade school Choir, then Piano at age 9, self-taught Drums at 12, Guitar and Songwriting from age 15 onward…. Discovered by a well-known Producer when he was 18, Mark’s first record (a “45”) was released in 1977.
While he continued to grow and develop his musical crafts, Mark’s gifts for compassion, understanding and guiding people led him to a Specialized Honours degree in Psychology at Concordia and York Universities. Following graduation Mark joined his family’s business and later opened his own business in product design and sales. Here, by western societal standards, Mark enjoyed much success …. but this was not where his heart was …
In Montreal, Mark wrote and produced musical projects in his studio, performed live, and worked with band members from April Wine and Luba. As professional interest in his songs and voice grew, Mark ultimately sold his business and moved to Vancouver in 1995 to fly head first into music! There, Mark was soon invited to perform lead roles in several Musical Theatre productions, sing Chorus and Comprimario roles with the Vancouver Opera for 9 years, sing anthems for the Vancouver Grizzlies, perform live on TV, stages & clubs, wrote songs & composed original scores for film, Jessie Award Winning Theatre Productions, TV, and produced local artists at Autumn Studios.
Several years later, through some life-changing experiences, Mark found new, inspired direction in Life as well as Music :: Love, acceptance & honour of All that Is, sharing Lovingkindness, …. Through this work, Mark’s inner beliefs, his faith in Universal Peace, Love and Harmony grew to higher levels, deepening his feeling of inner peace and joyful living.
Combining his musical/spiritual entities, Mark began teaching as a Holistic Voice Coach, combining Spirit, Body, Heart & Voice in his practice. He was becoming known as a gifted musician, a Healer, a Bringer of Light, and a caring Spiritual Guide.
Mark & his Angelic daughter Zoe’s co-creation of a Multi-Faith, Inter-Cultural, Chakra Meditation CD: Cantoria was born in December 2009. Cantoria performed to standing ovations in theatres, and sold thousands of CDs in its first year in Canada alone. But the main “success” of this project in Mark’s eyes were in the Hearts of those who listened and shared in the Lovingkindness, peacefulness and healing this music and sentiment offered. This Full Body Chakra Meditation presented in music, universal sacred text and flowing, peaceful motifs, the real Dream and truthful potential for Universal Peace; Cantoria was deemed the “Musical Project for Peace”.
Following the release of Cantoria, several yoga studios and meditation centres began asking for an instrumental version of this cd for their yoga and meditation sessions. When concertmaster Mark Ferris, principle cellist Ariel Barnes and award wining harpist Janelle Nadeau all accepted the invitation to record, Mark fired up the studio and created the path for Cantoria SPIRIT: a purely instrumental invocation. The result is beautiful and inspiring.
Mark is now fully involved in Healing Through Music, offering Spiritual workshops and personal sessions where people may come, be gently and lovingly guided to invoke the presence of their higher powers, embrace and heal any challenges they may feel ~ All through music, meditation and inspired teachings that invoke the highest divine we all have inside our Beautiful Being.