Burnell Music – Anne & Mark Burnell
Burnell Music…a magical piano duo! Well, that’s one way to describe Anne and Mark Burnell. The duo and couple have been described in many ways for their talent and harmony by those who’ve heard them.
Anne and Mark perform jazz, cabaret, pop, A cappella, and are best known for their captivating, rich A cappella numbers.
Mark Burnell, who is a pianist and vocalist, received his MFA at Carnegie Mellon University where he also spent 10 years training vocalists. He also taught at Northwestern and Roosevelt Universities and was a Master Instructor at the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University in 2009 and 2010.
Mark has completed several overseas tours, including to Bern, Zurich, Paris, Frieburg, Geneva, Panama, and Amsterdam.
He has worked with greats like Dave Frishberg, Connie Francis, Howie Mandel, Laura San Giocomo, Richie Cole, Rob Marshall, Blair Underwood, and Seth Myers.
Anne Burnell is a vocalist often described as one of Chicago’s most versatile live performers. Her music collection shows off a set of intentionally built materials designed to capture Anne’s artistry.
It includes one-third of ‘Summer Days and Dreamy Nights’ using Anne’s beautiful and heartfelt original material, a mix of innovative re-imaginings of classic songs, such as an elegantly jazzy, “Close To You,”, a coolly wistful turn on Gershwin’s “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” and the lively jazz-soul twist on “Goin’ Out Of My Head”, and the final third of the project were covers of songs so craftily done that one might think they’re brand new.
Some examples of these craftily done covers include “Dreamsville” (from the “Peter Gunn” TV series), “Moment To Moment,” featuring lyrics by Johnny Mercer, Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost In His Arms” from the musical “Annie Get Your Gun.”, and “The Best Things in Life Are Free,” a tune from 1927.
Together, Mark and Anne have delighted audiences in Paris, New York, Italy, and Amsterdam and across the world with their unique jazz/pop and A cappella performances. They’ve stunned at some of the Windy City’s top spots, including Davenport’s, Skokie Theater, Park West, and Drury Lane Water Tower Theatre.
The duo sang the National Anthem for the Chicago Cubs, the White Sox, Chicago Fire, Arlington Park, and Special Olympics. Mark and Anne were Cabaret Fellows at the Cabaret Symposium 2000, and they appeared in the ASCAP Cabaret at the Chicago Humanities Festival 2004. They were named in “Chicago’s Top Ten” for 2002 & 2003 by New York’s Cabaret Hotline.
The couple’s CD of duets ‘Little Things We Do Together’, with guest artists Johnny Frigo and Buddy Charles, features the single “Heaven Down Here” co-written by Jim Carey.
The second CD, ‘Blues in the Night’ (January 2005), includes songs from the Harold Arlen songbook, with arrangements by Count Basie veteran Bob Ojeda.
These CDs, including ‘Summer Days & Dreamy Nights’, have been featured on Chicago radio stations such as WGN, WXRT, WDCB, and nationally on Radio One Network.
Burnell Music continues to thrill, inspire, and captivate through Mark and Anne Burnell.
You can often catch Mark and Anne on their YouTube channel and see fresh upcoming events on their website.
A personal message from Irene Michaels
It was a pleasure to perform at Chicago Cabaret Professionals Holiday Gala 2021 honoring Frieda Lee in December. I mention this here as both Anne and Burnell are founding members of CCP, a wonderful organization I am honored to be a member of.
