Born in St. Louis Missouri, Mark Colenburg had a strong desire for music (particularly drums) at 2 years of age. Singing and beating on everything in his mom's house, from pillows to pots and pans, made it clear that music was the way for him. Mark had his first opportunity to explore music at the age of 6 by playing drums at his home church.
He began to further develop his talent by joining concert, jazz, and marching bands in school. By the time he reached his sophomore year of high school, he joined a music ministry under the leadership of Levi "Too" King and played drums on his first professional recording. While growing in the music ministry he also was blossoming in high school, winning various awards and competitions such as an Outstanding Musicianship Award, the All Suburban Jazz Ensemble Drum Chair in St. Louis, and the All State Jazz Ensemble Drum Chair in Missouri.
After Mark graduated high school, he was blessed with the opportunity to do his first jazz gig with the St. Louis renowned Willie Atkins, where he received more exposure playing professionally. Ready to make the next big step in his career, he auditioned for Mannes School of Music and was accepted and awarded a scholarship. He moved to New York and within in the first year his career took off.
Mark has had the opportunity to study with some of the world's greatest drummers such as Lenny White, Joe Chambers, Michael Carvin, Carl Allen, Andrew Cyrille, Robby Ameen, and Marvin Sparks. Being that Mark's vocabulary of music had a wide range of genres, he has been blessed to perform, produce, and write music with the best of the best in various genres such as Common, Layla Hathaway, Kenny Garrett, Chico Freeman, Amel Larrieux, Lizz Wright, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Coleman, Rashaan Paterson, Lauryn Hill, Stefon Harris, Mos Def, Bilal, Robert Glasper, Q-tip, Macy Gray, Nikki Jean, Nona Hendricks, Greg Tardy, and Erykah Badu just to name a few. Mark has also been blessed to perform alongside various artists on mainstream television broadcasts such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, BET 106 & Park, The Chris Rock Show on HBO, Late Show with David Letterman, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Mark appreciates God's gift and aims to share it with the world.
