Mark Ettinger is an American singer, songwriter, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, and

juggler Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

from New York City. From 1998 to 2016 he performed regularly as a member of the

Flying Karamazov Brothers The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe that has been performing since 1973. They learned their trade busking as street artists starting in Santa Cruz, California, eventually going on to perform nationally and internat ...

under the stage name Alexei Karamazov.

Background

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, Ettinger started his musical life after taking piano lessons as a child. During his teens, he played keyboards and bass for a variety of local bands, including Joey Miserable and the Worms, The Special Guests, The Hues Blues Band, and David Peel and the Lower East Side. After studying music, philosophy, and literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, he received his master's degree in composition and conducting from

Mannes College of Music The Mannes School of Music (), originally called the David Mannes Music School and later the Mannes Music School, Mannes College of Music, the Chatham Square Music School, and Mannes College: The New School for Music, is a Music school, music con ...

. He stayed at Mannes for several years as a professor, until he was offered a job as a performer with the Flying Karamazov Brothers.

Alexei Karamazov

In 1998, Ettinger joined the

, the world-famous juggling troupe. Selected for his musical talents and theatrical experience, he was dubbed Alexei Karamazov. His first show as a Karamazov was the technology-based ''L'Universe''. He has since performed in ''Catch!'', ''Life: A Guide For The Perplexed'', and the ''Orchestra Shows'', in which he has acted as conductor for various orchestras, including the

Seattle Symphony The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra also serves as the accompanying orchestra for the Seattle Opera. History Beginnings The orchest ...

, the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

, and the

Dallas Symphony The Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Dallas, Texas. Its principal performing venue is the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in the Arts District of downtown Dallas. History The orchestra traces its origins to a ...

In This World

In 2005, Ettinger released his debut CD, ''In This World'', a collection of original songs featuring a variety of guest artists. The style ranges from

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

to rock to

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

.
Track Listing 1. Excerpt – the Victrola Mix
2. Come Back Home
3. Into an Hourglass
4. Chester Town
5. Hey Darling
6. Do You Know the Way Home?
7. In the Shallows
8. How Can I Be Sad?
9. Flickering Flame
10. Strange Emotions
11. Caroline
12. Teacup
13. Feed Us All (Papa Ray)
14. Lay Your Cares Aside
15. No More Sorrow
16. In This World ''In This World'' is co-produced by David Seitz (Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Christine Lavin, Bruce Springsteen). Many renowned musicians join him on these recordings, including Steven Bernstein (Lou Reed), Kenny Wollesen (Norah Jones) and Doug Wieselman (Lucinda Williams).

References

External links

Mark Ettinger's official web siteIn This World on CD BabyMySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ettinger, Mark American multi-instrumentalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Jugglers American male singer-songwriters