Mark is an American composer who is currently based in Berlin. He works in the areas of concert music and concert installation. Recent commissions include new works for the Donaueschingen, Witten, and Darmstadt festivals as well as for ensemble recherche, KNM Berlin, and Ensemble Intercontemporain. You can listen to more of his music at www.mark-barden.com.In our conversation we talk about his former life as a pianist and why he chose to become a composer, his frustation and solution for writing in a concert hall setting, and combining Arabic poetry with Western art music. The piece played in this interview is Alam and was performed by KNM Berlin.