MARTIN MAYER

He sold out his first show, had his debut CD nominated for an industry award, and toured one of the largest countries in the world....that and he's only twenty-two. Such is the career thus far for Canadian pianist & composer Martin Mayer. This ambitious young artist has spent the past five years taking the industry by storm, and moving up on the international stage. But make no mistake about it, Mayer is no stranger to the business.

In 1995 at age fifteen, his first writing effort was picked up by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation fora soundtrack bed. For Mayer, it was his first taste of success, and he longed for more.

"When you write your first song, you really don't know what to expect, and when someone picks it up, it gives you that push to write further," the young pianist says, recalling how he discovered his passion, and how it would be the start of greater things to come.

Fueled with the drive to keep writing, arranging, and orchestrating his original blend of instrumental fusion, Mayer decided it was time to step up and announce his presence on the music scene. That he did with a show that turned heads. With a night of his own music, backed by the power of a 20-piece orchestra, Mayer's self-produced concert was recorded live in front a standing-room-only audience. Soon after, he released that night's music as "Martin Mayer: live in concert", immediately capturing the attention of talent buyers in Europe and Asia.

In 2001, Mayer and his band exploded onto the Chinese market, with a 15-city national concert tour and two national television appearances. With sold-out shows everywhere, high ratings on the television programs, and soaring CD sales, the young artist recalls how his music captured a nation.

"I remember arriving in Beijing not knowing what to expect. At the end of the tour, I found out that I had played to over 2.5 billion people in four weeks...I couldn't believe it!" But the Asian press believed it, and deemed him the "Canadian Prince of Piano".

Back in Canada, Mayer's peers took note of his efforts and nominated his Canadian and Asian-released disc in the "Outstanding Instrumental Category" of the Western Canadian Music Alliance Awards.

Now releasing his second CD, aptly titled "Martin Mayer: this is who i am", the young pianist and composer continues to write and perform with a polish one expects from someone twice his age. While people in their early-twenties are searching for their calling, Mayer is propelling himself down the road of life with an eerie determination unheard of in a man so young.

Through it all, the pianist and composer has always credited his hard work and his education through the Royal Conservatory of Music and the Grant MacEwan Centre for the Arts, as being the foundations for his successes. But almost in contradiction, the young artist prefers to leave his future up to the fates. Perhaps his new CD should have been titled 'On the Verge' because if anything, Mayer is poised for international success, which may well be in the stars.