Mark Russell Mercer is currently the director of choirs at Fairfield Senior High School in Fairfield, OH. He was choral director at Andover High School in Andover, MA (2008-2016) and Danville High School in Danville, IL (2016-2017). Mark built a program from scratch in Andover that consisted of a concert choir, chamber choir, music theory class, music production I class, music production II class, and three show choirs (mixed, ladies’, men’s). While in Danville, Mark began a men’s show choir and continued the great work that was already happening. His choral ensembles and show choirs drew attention as top contenders.
In 2017, Mark took over Fairfield's already thriving show choir program that consisted of Rhythm Express, Fairfield's MS Mixed Show Choir, Pure Elegance, Fairfield's HS Ladies' Show Choir, and Choraliers, Fairfield's HS Mixed Show Choir. In addition, he added FortissiBROS, Fairfield's HS Men’s Show Choir, and Little Elegance, Fairfield's MS Ladies' Show Choir. He has already led the group to numerous Grand Champions and caption awards. Mark also directs Sound Check, Fairfield's Freshman Concert Choir, Tone Down for What, Fairfield's HS Mixed Concert Choir, Vocal Impact, Fairfield's HS Advanced Chamber Choir, and Acapocalypse, Fairfield's A Capella Choir. In all, Mark directs 9 choral groups, a tech crew, Nuts & Bolts, and a combo The Heartbeat. In addition, he co-advises Fairfield's Tri-M Chapter.
His groups in the past few years alone have won numerous grand championships along with caption awards such as best show design, best show concept, best costumes, best crew, best band, best soloists, best choreography, and best vocals.
When he finds time, Mark enjoys adjudicating, being a clinician at festivals and competitions throughout the nation, and designing shows for show choirs. Mark received his undergraduate education from University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and his Master’s degree in Music Education from Kent State University in 2010, where he completed extensive research in creating fair and unbiased assessments for ensemble groups within arts programs. Mark is a professional pianist who has been playing for over 30 years. He is a proud member of ACDA, OMEA, and NAfME and the proud father to his French Bulldog, Cooper, and Boston Terrier, Milo.
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Mark Mercer