Mark Skazinetsky, presently in his eleventh season as Associate Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, is a native of Odessa, a port city in the Ukraine. Upon completion of his music education in the State Conservatory of Odessa, he was awarded a degree with honours in all four qualifications of performer, teacher, chamber instrumentalist and orchestral player. At age fifteen, he won first prize in the Ukrainian Competition for Young Talents, subsequently performing the Bruch Violin Concerto in G minor with the Odessa State Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1979, he emigrated to Canada and, one year later, he joined the Toronto Symphony. Prior to his work with the TSO, Mr. Skazinetsky served as Assistant Concertmaster with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Stratford Chamber Ensemble.

Mr. Skazinetsky is a prominent chamber musician and can be heard frequently on the CBC Radio Network and in recital halls throughout the country. He is a founding member of the Maple Trio and of the Moveable Feast, with the latter of which he recorded a CD with flutist Susan Hoeppner. He was also among the hand picked group of TSO musicians that Glenn Gould chose for his last recording and conducting debut (Wagner: Siegfried Idyll; Sony Classical). He is currently teaching violin at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto.

Mr. Skazinetsky is also actively pursuing a conducting career. Since 1993, he has been studying privately and in various seminars with world renowned conducting teacher Maestro Gustav Meier, head of the Conducting Program at Tanglewood and recently retired from the same position at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Engagements include concerts in Italy in the Summer of '96, both in duo and as soloist with the Orchestra Sinfonica della Provincia di Bari.