Described by Classical Guitar Magazine as 'an outstanding guitarist/composer', Mark Houghton was born in Liverpool and began playing guitar at the age of 7. From 1988, Mark studied Classical Guitar with Stanley Yates and during this period also received private tuition from Stepan Rak on the performance of Rak's music.
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Mark was awarded an Associate Diploma in Guitar Performance from the London College of Music (for which, after receiving high pass marks, he was chosen to play at the annual Lloyd-Webber Medal Concert).
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In August 2000 Mark won the Chris Kilvington Memorial Prize - held at Dillington Music Festival - for his guitar quartet Symphonic Dance No. 1.
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In 2007 Mark won the CGML Composition Competition, hosted in Brazil, with his composition 'Aurora' for flute, clarinet and guitar (now published in duet form with Les Productions D'OZ).
A prolific composer of ensemble music, Mark has written three articles, published in the US-based Classical Guitar Magazine, two that focus on writing for guitar ensembles, plus a third article entitled ‘Letter from Thailand & Vietnam', documenting guitar activities in that region.
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Mark has received numerous commissions to write new music and engage in music arranging projects, including a solo guitar collaboration (with other prominent composers) to arrange the songs of the former King of Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. This work has led Mark to be engaged in music distribution in the Asia region for the fine Canadian publishing house, Les Productions D'OZ/ Doberman. In parallel with this, Mark has created a new publishing label ‘Houghton Guitar Shop’ with an aim to publish many of his unpublished guitar & chamber works.
From 2020, Mark has written/ arranged approximately 450 works and, from this, nearly 130 original works published with Les Productions D'OZ/ Doberman, Chanterelle, Mel Bay, Lathkill Music and Corda Music Productions and his own publishing venture - Houghton-Guitar. His works have received premiere performances by leading performers in the classical guitar world.
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Mark is a registered guitar teacher with the Registry of Guitar Tutors and the European Guitar Teachers Association.
Published articles:-
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Classical Guitar Magazine (July 2017): Power in Numbers: Tips on Writing for Guitar Ensembles.
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Classical Guitar Magazine (Jan. 2018): Magical Multiples: Writing For or Playing In a Duo, Trio, or Quartet Offers Exciting Possibilities.
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Classical Guitar Magazine (Nov. 2019): ‘Letter from Thailand & Vietnam’.
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'Soundboard' (Jan. 2020) featured music: 'Latin Nights'.