Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor from Hengoed, is one of the most in-demand drummers in Wales. He works regularly with numerous different projects and bands: Duski, Burum, Paula Gardiner Trio, Wonderbrass and Olion Byw, to name a few.
Mark is an active teacher in the community, helping to lead both Caerphilly Samba, and Wonderbrass, a leading community jazz band from South Wales, as well as being one of the visiting drum tutors at the Royal College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.
He has toured Internationally playing at the Rochester Jazz Festival, USA with the Paula Gardiner Trio and Huw Warren (2009), The Smithsonian Folklife Festival with Burum in Washington DC (2009), he's toured India with Khamira and in 2013 he toured China with Tina May, Iain Ballamy, Paula Gardiner and Huw Warren.
Mark has a passionate interest in the musics of Brazil and Cuba in particular.