Biography
First Violin
Mark Volkert
Assistant Concertmaster, 75th Anniversary Chair
SFS member since: 1972
Hometowns: Milwaukee, WI, St. Paul, MN
Music school you attended: Stanford University
Began playing music: At age 11
Musical inspirations: My church choir director
If I were not a professional musician, I might be a: History or German teacher
Favorite composers: J.S. Bach, Frederick Delius
Favorite works featuring my instrument: Goldmark’s and Delius’s Violin Concertos; “Erbarme dich,” from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion; any piece by Fritz Kreisler
When I’m not working, I enjoy: Going to the race track (Golden Gate Fields); watching college football and People’s Court on TV
Recent reading: Mozart: Studies of the Autograph Scores, by Alan Tyson (I don’t read fiction)
On my CD player/iPod: Coon-Sanders Nighthawks and Gus Arnheim Cocoanut Grove Orchestra (both from early 1930s)
Favorite thing to do in the Bay Area: Go for walks. The East Bay Regional Park system is wonderful!