About
Saxophonist and educator Mark Jackovic earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Duquesne University in 2011. Following graduation, Jackovic played in several bands throughout the Pittsburgh region. In 2011, as part of the Center of Life Jazz Band, Jackovic took 2nd place in the Open Combo division at the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, CA.
In 2012, Jackovic was accepted into The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he earned a Master's degree in jazz performance. During Jackovic’s time at Rutgers University, he studied improvisation, arranging, composition, jazz history, and jazz theory under Conrad Herwig, Kenny Davis, Victor Lewis, Mark Gross, Lewis Porter, and Bill O’Connell, as well as a myriad of guest artists. Rutgers University also gave him the opportunity to study privately from theorist, composer, and saxophonist Ralph Bowen.
From 2014 to 2016 Jackovic worked as the Jazz Coordinator at Center of Life. While working for
Center of Life Jackovic developed curriculum,
taught 1st through 12th grade students, managed program budgets, and performed managerial
duties. Also during that time Jackovic worked
part-time as the Front House Coordinator at
Manchester Craftsman's Guild.
Currently Jackovic is working full time as the Jazz Education and Archives Manager at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG). MCG Jazz has embedded a new jazz curriculum in several counties within West Virginia with the help of Jackovic. Jackovic is a published archivist providing materials for the PBS documentary “We Knew We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told” a film about the history of Pittsburgh and the jazz musicians who helped the music thrive. During the pandemic Jackovic created a suite of archival videos utilizing the MCG Jazz Oral History Collection in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Jackovic is endorsed by the mouthpiece company Theo Wanne and associated with Eastman Winds. Jackovic is a Vault Recording Artist.
Mark Jackovic has performed with: Marty Ashby, Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, Vivian Reed, The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Roger Humphries, Dwayne Dolphin, Landau Eugene Murphy Jr., actor and vocalist Keith David, choreographer Dwight Rhoden's production of StrayLifeLushHorn with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sachal Vasandani, James Tormé, Tony Martucci, Kenny Blake, Ray Angry, Tamara Tunie, and more