{"id":27954,"date":"2015-11-16T14:19:53","date_gmt":"2015-11-16T14:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=27954"},"modified":"2015-11-16T14:19:53","modified_gmt":"2015-11-16T14:19:53","slug":"cardiff-character-mark-eager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2015\/11\/16\/cardiff-character-mark-eager\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardiff Character: Mark Eager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Eager holds his score of Haydn\u2019s Clock<\/em> Symphony.<\/p>\n

As conductor of the Welsh Sinfonia<\/a>, a Cardiff-based professional chamber orchestra, he is in Cardiff\u2019s Village Hotel minutes before leaving for a concert in Milford Haven, indicative of his busy musical career. He\u00a0lives in Salisbury and London with his wife, and also\u00a0serves as a conductor for The Londamis Ensemble\u00a0and Cardiff University Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

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Growing up with the trombone<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Mark was born in London in 1962 before moving to Newcastle, his first musical memories from family associations with Salvation Army bands. \u201cI was immersed from day one,\u201d he explains. \u201cFrom five or six, my grandad started teaching me the trombone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“[The Royal Academy] is only for those who only want to perform”<\/em><\/h4>\n

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The trombone made such an impression on him that he went on to study it at The Royal Academy of Music in London. Renowned for its very high standards, he explains that the college is not for anyone who is\u00a0indecisive about their future, \u201cPerformance music is only for those who only<\/em> want to perform, and there\u2019s nothing else on their agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trombone career comes to an end<\/b><\/h2>\n

After years of freelance musicianship, he landed his dream job in 1993 as principal trombonist in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. But that ended in 2005 when a concerto commissioned for him by the BBC and written by Welsh composer Alun Hoddinott halted his ability to play the trombone forever due to muscle damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was meant to be a real tour de force<\/em> for a top professional, which indeed sadly, it was,\u201d he admits. From the moment he started having issues, he knew that was the end of his trombone career due to the total confidence that players of his standard required, \u201cIf I had to play a solo at the Royal Albert Hall, was I going to look in the mirror at my face and think \u2018are you going to work today?\u2019 and I never wanted that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the biggest \u2018back on track\u2019 moment for Mark\u00a0was getting a scholarship to the Orkney Conductor\u2019s Course. As a late entry, he had to prepare 21 scores in just six days. \u201cI immersed myself in these scores, and I was just in heaven,\u201d he reveals.<\/p>\n

Mark talks about Cardiff’s musical life:<\/strong><\/p>\n