Mark Fitzpatrick is Principal Trumpet of Orchestra Victoria.

He began playing Cornet at the age of 10 and quickly fell in love with brass music. He went on to win many brass band solo competitions including the Australian and New Zealand Open Soprano Cornet Championships as well as the Victorian Champion of Champions title in 2003 and the Australian Open Champion of Champions title in 2004. Mark also won numerous state ‘A’ Grade brass band titles and the Australian National ‘A’ Grade brass band titles in 1999 and 2004 with the Hawthorn Band.

Switching to the Trumpet when he began to study at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 1995 and then on to the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, Mark studied with Geoffrey Payne (Melbourne Symphony), Tristram Williams, Robert Smithies (Orchestra Victoria) and Robert Sims (Head of Brass, VCA) in addition to performing in master classes with Hakan Hardenberger, David Staff, Niklas Ekland and James Thompson.

Mark has performed extensively with orchestras and ensembles in Australia and New Zealand including performances as a soloist with Orchestra Victoria and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.

In 2008 he performed as Principal Trumpet with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra before returning to Australia to take up his current position as Principal Trumpet of Orchestra Victoria in 2009. Mark has performed as Guest Principal Trumpet with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, Mark performed as Principal Trumpet with the Melbourne Ring Orchestra in Opera Australia’s first production of the Ring.

In 2014 Mark performed with the Kristiansand Symfoniorkester and in 2014 and 2016 was invited to perform as Guest Principal Trumpet with the Stavanger Symfoniorkester in Norway.

Mark currently teaches at the University of Melbourne.