Thomas Carson Mark holds a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University. He also studied piano in New York with David Bar-Illan and Jeannette Haien. For a number of years, he taught philosophy at various colleges and universities. When teaching philosophy he was the author of "Spinoza's Theory of Truth" (Columbia UP) and numerous articles on the philosophy of Spinoza. After leaving academia he moved to the Oregon Coast where for nine years he organized and served as principal pianist in a chamber music series. He is the author of What Every Pianist Needs to Know about the Body, which Barbara Lister Sink described as "simply the best book currently on the market" in its field. Pastoral Music said, "Every pianist, organist, and harpsichordist should read this book." Thomas Mark's new book, Motion, Emotion, and Love: The Nature of Artistic Performance, will be published in 2012 by GIA Publications. The new book will interest all performers, whether actors, dancers, or musicians, and it will also appeal to all audience members at dance, theatre, or concert performances. Among other things, it explains why performances are unique occasions offering a kind of experience unavailable anywhere else, what performers create as artists in their own right, and what role the audience plays in a performance.