Mark Benincosa
Mark A. Benincosa II has served as Recording Engineer and instructor of Music Technology in the WVU School of Music for the past six years. He recently developed courses and created a minor in Music Technology which focuses on music production and recording engineering.
Benincosa is also active as a producer, composer and instrumentalist, specializing in electric guitar, electric bass, and music programming/creation in Pro Tools. He has written music for a diverse range of situations, including live theatre, independent horror films, educational videos, and indie video games. He is also a session musician focusing primarily on electric guitar and bass guitar.
As a composer, he draws on a wide range of genres as influences, including electronic, rock, folk, punk, world, funk, classical, and heavy metal music. Mark often incorporates non-musical sounds and noises into his work. He believes that music should not be restricted to conventional rules of melody, harmony and rhythm alone, but that any object we touch or any sound that can be made has a potential place in music, as long as the end result can justify its use.
As a recording engineer, he prefers a hybrid approach of high-end recording equipment and techniques common in classical music, in conjunction with methods that are more at home in a rock environment.
Benincosa holds a Master of Science from West Virginia University. He received his Avid Certification in Pro Tools Music Production and Game Audio from the University of Southern California where he studied with composer and music editor Rick Schmunk, gold and platinum album engineer/musician Richard McIlvery, game audio engineer Steve Cunningham, and Grammy-winning producer/engineer Ed Cherney.
In addition to numerous WVU-related ensemble recordings, Benincosa has recorded, mixed, produced, and/or mastered music for a number of releases on major classical record labels. In the past year, he has been involved in four international releases by Cala Records, Albany Records, and Delos Music. His work has received excellent reviews by the Journal of Singing, Music Web International, Gramophone Magazine, and several others. He was also recently accepted as a full Voting Member by the National Recording Academy of Arts & Sciences.