NEWS
Damisch Plays for Patriarch of Greek Orthodox ChurchTHE NORTBROOK TOWER By ALAN P. HENRY Freelance Reporter Mark Damisch's dream is a simple one. All he wants to do is leave the world a little better than he found it. To that end, the 63-year old former Northbrook Village president recently returned from his 24th classic piano concert tour in 45 vears in /O countries around the world, this time around performing 22 concerts in 32 days in 13 countries throughout the Middle East and Europe. | 2019 ProgramK, K and A Productions Present Mark W. Damisch Pianist in his 2019 Concert Tour to: Washington, D.C., Tunisia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Jordan, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Croatia, Spain, United Kingdom, Serbia, Turkey ABOUT THE MUSIC: COPLAND: APPALACHIAN SPRING Appalachian Spring premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and ending popularity. Originally designed as a ballet, it was created upon the commission of choreographer and dancer Martha Graham. | Известный американский пианист посетил город Смоленск с гастролями22 сентября 2017 года в ОГАУК «Смоленская областная филармония» состоялся благотворительный концерт известного американского пианиста Марка Демиша. Концерт собрал более 100 человек, но желающих послушать талантливого музыканта было гораздо больше. Пианист исполнил музыкальные композиции К. Дебюсси, Б. Бартока, Э. Донаньи и А. Копленда. Гости вечера очень тепло приветствовали господина Демиша и находились в восторге от виртуозного исполнения сложнейших произведений. В конце вечера публика с больш | 2017 Tour RepertoireMark Damisch has unveiled his 2017 concert tour repertoire as follows: BARTOK: SIX ROMANIAN DANCES (1915) This is a suite of six short pieces.. It is based on Romanian tunes from Transylvania, originally played on fiddle or shepherd's flute recorded by Bartok and taken back to his studio. | Американский пианист и общественный деятель выступил в Волгограде с посланием мира и дружбыВ Волгоградских школах искусств прошла серия фортепианных концертов американского Исполнителя Марка Дэмиша. Свои выступления филантроп и музыкант посвятил подвигу Красной армии и той жертве, которую советский народ принёс ради мира на земле. Именно поэтому в программе концертов были произведения композиторов разных стран: Белы Бартока, Эрнста фон Донаньи, Аарона Копленда, а также знаменитая «Катюша», которой подпевал весь зал. | DAILY NORTH SHOREBy Donald Liebenson - July 13, 2017 Mark Damisch is a big believer in iconic Chicago architect Daniel Burnham's maxim, “Make no little plans." This month, the Chicago attorney will embark from his Northbrook home on a 37-night trip abroad that will visit 13 countries. But he is not going as a tourist. He will perform 25 piano recitals. Damisch began these tours 42 years ago. This is his 18th consecutive summer trip. But Damisch is not a professional musician. |
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ABOUT
Mark Damisch is an American concert pianist who began studying organ at the Evanston Conservatory of Music at the age of four. He performed his first piano concert at seven. As a teen in 1974, he toured Europe both as a pianist and also in a vocal group alongside the Vienna Boys Choir. In Salzburg’s Mirabel Gardens, he first considered the idea of touring on his own.
The following year, Mr. Damisch arranged, promoted and performed concerts in Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the Soviet Union in furtherance of goodwill and international relations. In 1976, he performed in Moscow and Leningrad, and in 1977, he performed a 7-week tour around the world. In 1980-81, while attending law school, Mr. Damisch played fundraising concerts to raise money for students wishing to work in Chicago legal aid clinics.
After a 19-year hiatus, Mr. Damisch returned to the concert stage in the summer of 2000, continuing his mission of performing for charitable causes worldwide. To date, he has raised over $1 million for local and national organizations.
Mark Damisch’s piano concerts have taken him to more than 70 countries, including Japan, the Soviet Union, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, the Netherlands, Africa, China, Greece, Iceland, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, India and more. He has performed in the Shuvalov Palace, raising funds for local orphanages; in Klin, at Tchaikovsky’s House; in Iskra, at the New Jerusalem Monastery; in Warsaw in the Museum of Jan Paderewski; and in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the National Philharmonic Hall to raise funds for local orphanages, in the National Conservatory of Music in Hanoi, the National Church of Iceland, the Hermitage Theater in Saint Petersburg, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin and in the Konstantinovsky Palace, Saint Petersburg, the “White House” of Russia.
He has performed at the Houses of Friendship in Moscow, Kiev and Leningrad, Soviet Union; in Hiroshima, Japan, sponsored by Mayors for Peace, an organization devoted to the elimination of nuclear weapons; in Shenyang, China, where over $150,000 was raised for the Red Cross in a concert broadcast live to a city of 8 million people. He has appeared on Swiss National Radio, the Voice of America and on national television in India and Vietnam.
Mr. Damisch’s concert tour for peace in the Middle East included concerts sponsored by the United States Embassy, Egypt; the Ein Gedi Kibbutz; and the Ticho House, Jerusalem. Throughout his many tours each year, he has performed numerous times in coordination with U.S. Embassies and the U.S.O.
Mr. Damisch, who also appears in numerous domestic performances every year, has been joined on tour by his daughters Kristina, Katherine and Alexandra, who sing and play the piano.
Mr. Damisch makes his career in Chicago as a personal injury attorney, and is a former criminal prosecutor with the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. He holds an Undergraduate, a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, and a Law Degree from Northwestern University. He is also a Certified Public Accountant. An active community member, Mark Damisch was elected to three consecutive terms as President of Northbrook, Illinois, where he makes his home with wife Patty and their three daughters.
TOUR DATES
PHILANTHROPY
“All I want to do is leave the world a little better than I found it.”
Mark Damisch
2019 will be the 44th year of piano performance for Mark Damisch…a year of looking back on the abundance of memories of people and places across the globe where his family and their music have been welcomed so warmly. So too the year brings fresh and exciting new experiences and venues…from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Belgrade, Serbia to Cairo, Egypt to Nicosia, Cyprus and many other venues, each special in its own way.
One thing will not change, and that is that the Damisches will continue to donate all benefits from both domestic and international performances to local charitable causes. Through their music, Mark and his daughters Alexandra and Katherine have, to date, raised over $1 million for non-profit organizations worldwide. In partnership with these groups, the family – which sponsors its own travel and does not accept performance fees – will honor its tradition of performing to audiences comprised of the charity’s constituents, with all ticket proceeds going to the charity.
To discuss an opportunity to host a concert that benefits a non-profit organization in your region, please contact us using the form provided.
A partial list of charitable recipients:
American Cancer Society
Austrian Embassy
Belfast Crescent Arts Centre
Bemovo Cultural Center, Warsaw, Poland
Blumenthal Auditorium, Tel Aviv, Israel, Benefit for Holocaust Survivors
Care Austria, Vienna
Cedarhurst Center for the Performing Arts, Mt. Vernon, IL
Cemtro Cultural do Poder Judiciario
Chicago-Amman Sister Cities Program
Chicago-Osaka Sister Cities Program
Chicago-Petach Tikva Sister Cities Program
Chicago-Warsaw Sister Cities Program
Childline, CLIC - Juvenile Leukemia
Chinese People’s Association for Friendship, Shanhai/Beijing
Chinese Red Cross
Christoffel Blindenmission, Austria
Council for Jewish Elderly
Ein Gedi Kibbutz, Jerusalem
Fairygodmother Foundation
Garden of Hope / Human Trafficking, Taipei City
Goldman Philanthropic Partnerships, Chicago
Habitat for Humanity, Lake County, IL
Hanbit School for the Blind
Hands of Peace
Hermitage Theater Benefit for Young Boy’s Urgent Medical Needs
Holocaust Survivors Pension Fund, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem
Homeless Shelters, Copenhagen, Denmark
Hook Norton Cathedral, Windsor, UK
Illinois State Bar Association
International Centre for the Delhi Music Society
Island of Paros, Greece, Parthenon Marbles Initiative
Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Victims, Osaka, Japan
Jewish United Fund
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
Konstantinov Palace Fundraiser for Sunrise Foundation
Lemon Creek Correctional Facility Prison Ministry
Local Orphanages, St. Petersburg, Russia
Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima, Japan
Nassaukerk Benefit for Homeless and Drug Addiction
National Academy of Music, Hanoi
National Music Conservatory, Egypt
National Library, Bucharest, Romania
Northern Light Church Replacement Project
Parkinson’s Disease Society, London, UK
Peace in the Middle East: Israel, Egypt, Jordan
Shanghai Food Depository
Sharing and Happiness Hospital, Busan, South Korea
Siem Reap, Cambodia, Educational System
Social Concerns Committee, Paris
South Africa Hospital Benefit
Special Olympics Korea
St. Petersburg International Society for Cooperation
Sue Ryder Foundation, Czech Republic
Sunrise Foundation
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk for the Cure
Ticho House, Jerusalem
U.S. Consulate, Hamburg, Germany
U.S. Consulate, Saint Petersburg, Russia
U.S. Embassy in Mexico
U.S. Ambassador's residences in Tbilisi, Georgia, Canberra, Australia, Ulan Bator, Mongolia and
Amman, Jordan
U.S.O., Troops coming out of Iraq
Universidad Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Universite Finis Terrae, Santiago Chile, Musicians Fund
YWCA Week Without Violence
VIDEOS
PRESS
Volgograd City Newspaper, Американский пианист призвал волгоградских музыкантов к миру и дружбе Read more
Volgograd Tourism Bureau, Pianist Mark Damisch brought to Volgograd a message of peace and friendship from the United States Read more
Volgograd Tourism Bureau, 28.09.2017 Пианист Марк Дэмиш привез в Волгоград послание мира и дружбы из США Read more
Vologograd City Council Web Article, Американский пианист и общественный деятель выступил в Волгограде с посланием мира и дружбы Read more
Daily Northshore, "Former Northbrook Mayor Takes On World Stage" Read more
Chicago Tribune, "Northbrook Pianist Mark Damisch to Kick Off International Tour" Read more
The Washington Post: "Chicago Lawyer's Second Act" Read more
Chicago SunTimes, "His Next Campaign: Village President Plans Tour As Concert Pianist" Read more
Chicago Tribune, "Northbrook Leader Juggles Varied Roles" Read more
Northwestern University Alumni Life: "Mark Damisch: Peaceful Pianist" Read more
Northbrook Arts Commission, "Spotlight on Mark W. Damisch" Read more
Chicago Trib Local, "Damisch Family Takes Music Overseas" Read more
AARP The Magazine, "A Pianist Who Plays for Charity" Read more
Chicago Tribune, "Suburban Leader Finds Ways to Mix Politics, Piano" Read more
The Phenom Penh Post, "Peace Pianist to Play in Sofitel" Read more
Russian Cultural Center, "The Concert of Russian and American Concert Music" Read more
Thanhnien News, "American Father-Daughter Combo to Give Piano Recital in Hanoi" Read more
Embassy of the United States, "Peaceful Pianist Mark Damisch and his two daughters visited Mongolia as part of his 2012 Asia Tour" Read more
Forest & Bluff Magazine, "An Afternoon of American Classical Music" Read more
Pravda Ru, "Pianist and Northbrook Village President Mark W. Damisch Announces Plans for Eastern European Concert Tour and Chicago Theater Concert" Read more
Voice of America.com, "Chicago Musician Travels to Mideast, Plays in Israel, West Bank" Read more
Daily News Egypt, "An American Pianist in Egypt" Read more