Bio

From London UK, eventually a resident of Kristiansand, Norway, Mark Rayen Candasamy has composed for concert, film, and theatre since he as a classical piano major began accepting small commissions - primarily from local cultural groups such as community theatre, film students as well as taking up requests from fellow music majors. His early activities culminated in the composing of the orchestral film score for Stephan Hergel's debut film, "Bak Fasaden" (2008), performed by members of the Kristiansand Symphony, and conducted by the composer. The film premiered at the Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF), and the musical score received recognition via shortlisting for the Spanish GoldSpirit Awards in 2009.

Upon completion of his MA in piano performance, completed jointly at Agder (Norway) and Winthrop Universities (SC, USA), Mark went on to study composition and film scoring (Agder and Lillehammer Universities, respectively) in a time that saw his third full-feature film score for the docudrama "Anne & Alet" nominated in the category "best original score for a documentary feature" by the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) in 2014.

Later the avant-garde film project "Sympho-Noir", crafted in close collaboration with film maker Stephan Hergel and where Candasamy's original symphonic composition was to be interpreted visually after-the-fact (rather than the reverse), gained attention from the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival and won a "film of the year" award from the South-Norwegian Film Centre (Sørnorsk Filmsenter). Another notable project was "Besessenheit" for solo piano, Mark's contribution to Susanne Kessel's international project "250 piano pieces for Beethoven", which amongst other things featured in seperate radio specials aired on German BR Klassik and Norwegian Broadcasting Network ("Spillerom Søndag"), as well as numerous scheduled performances in Germany, Norway and USA.

Mark attributes credit to the contemporary music ensemble Agder Camerata for aiding the delevoping of his craft as a concert composer. The group has commissioned and performed several compositions on their tours since 2013, amongst others including commissions for five new concert works as of date. As a pianist, the patient, detailed and discipline-inducing instruction of professor Tellef Juva was an invaluable part of his education.

Mark's music has been performed and commercially released by groups and labels including Agder Camerata, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, F.A.M.E.'s (Macedonian Radio Orchestra), Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra, Taffelpikene, MovieScore Media, Kronos Records, Normann Records, Editions Musica Ferrum, Kessel Music Projects.