- State: Ohio
- State School (public)
- School Website
- Map Link
Aidan Plank (Jazz) and Mark Atherton (Classical), bass faculty
General Statistics
- US News Ranking: #176 (tie) in National Universities
- US News Overall Score (out of 100): 35
- In-State Tuition & Fees 2016-17: $10,012
- Out-of-State Tuition & Fees 2016-17: $18,376
- Room & Board 2016-17: $10,916
- Total Enrollment: 30,167
- Acceptance Rate (Fall 2016): 85%
- Student – Faculty Ratio: 21:1
- 4 year graduation rate: 32%
- % of undergrads receiving Financial aid: 63%
- Average Financial Aid: $5,437
Double Bass Statistics
- Average number of undergraduate bass students:
- Average number of graduate bass students:
What Alumni Are Doing
Perspectives from the Bass Faculty
About The Bass Faculty
Mark Atherton was a member of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra before hejoined The Cleveland Orchestra in 1983. Born in Bangor, Maine, Mr. Atherton earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from the Boston University School for the Arts. He studied with Henry Portnoi and David Cobb.
Mr. Atherton teaches at Kent State University and formerly taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana State University. He has performed with the Myriad Ensemble in Cleveland and performed as a soloist with the Trinity Chamber Orchestra (Cleveland) and at Kent State University. He plays an Italian-made Tenoni bass as well as an American-made Prescott.
Mr. Atherton and his wife, cellist Linda Atherton, have three children: daughter Katelyn and sons Blake and Graham. In his free time, Mr. Atherton enjoys golf, biking, camping, and church activities.
A native of Oberlin, Ohio, bassist Aidan Plank enjoys performing a diverse range of music throughout Northern Ohio. He studied with bassist and composer David Morgan as well as with Kevin Switalski of the Cleveland Orchestra. Aidan is a graduate of Cleveland State University. Aidan has performed with Dan Wall, Joe Lovano, Judi Silvano, Joe Maneri, Janis Siegel, Frankie Avalon, Tierney Sutton, and many others. Aidan played baroque bass in the premier of Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer’s Le Pouvoir de l’Amour (composed in 1743) in 2002 at Oberlin College as well as in the world premier of Randall Woolf and Robin Stranahan’s ‘pop-up’ opera Frozen Community, produced by Real Time Opera in 2013. Along with enjoying playing in the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Aidan can currently be seen performing explorations of improvisation in duo with guitarist Daniel Lippel. Aidan teaches in the Jazz Studies program at Kent State University, as well as at Cuyahoga Community College’s “Jazz Prep Program”.
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