Mark Emerson Donnelly is a Canadian singer noted for singing the national anthem "O Canada" at the National Hockey League's Vancouver Canucks home games. Donnelly is known for holding the microphone to the crowd and encouraging them to sing along.
Most recognized for his immensely popular appearances singing the national anthem at NHL games, Mark is commonly referred to as "Mr. O Canada". As the Signature Performer of the Vancouver Canucks, Mark has won the hearts of hockey fans and all Canadians from coast to coast by and encouraging them to sing along to his solid and unabashedly patriotic version of the Canadian national anthem. On October 3, 2014, Donnelly went viral on social media after "O Canada" at a Penticton Vees game.
Composer
Though Donnelly has composed and arranged music since he was in high school, it has been both the focus and passion of his musical life since 2009. That passion drives him to write music which, in his words, is "for the greater glory of God, and the edification of souls." Donnelly grounds his writing firmly in the great ecclesiastical tradition of the Western Church, using Gregorian Chant and the classical Roman polyphonic school, as exemplified by Giovanni da Palestrina, as model, guide and inspiration. Donnelly's repertoire of liturgical compositions is wide-ranging. He has written numerous Latin motets, masses and Gregorian Chant harmonizations, as well many English hymns and responses. At this time, among other projects, Donnelly is seeking financial support to make a professional quality recording of his Missa "", which is an imitation mass based on Palestrina's famous double motet Sicut cervus / Sitivit anima mea. Primarily a liturgical composer, Donnelly also writes secular choral arrangements and art songs. His epic musical setting of Alfred Noyes' classic ballad of love & death, , draws on Mark's experience performing the songs of Franz Schubert and Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others. In 2020, Donnelly was appointed Composer in Residence for .
Organum ''Novi Mundi''
Organum Novi Mundi is a Gregorian compositional technique pioneered by Mark Emerson Donnelly in 1989. Drawing on the tradition and inspiration of Medieval Organum, Donnelly combines this with the harmonic development of the high Renaissance. Sung in the same rhythmic manner of the original Gregorian plainsong, ONM expands on and embellishes the chant’s simple beauty without drawing the mind of the listener away from the text. Often alternated with unison plainchant, ONM may be in two to six parts. To date, Donnelly has produced dozens of these compositions for parochial use.
Missa pro defunctis a duo, Colleen Donnelly, Mark Donnelly, recorded at Holy Rosary Cathedral, Vancouver, BC, NOT RELEASED
Teacher / Conductor / Clinician
Donnelly has been a private voice instructor since 1984, and a Parochial Catholic Church Choir & Schola director for over 40 years. He currently directs Schola Davidica & Chorus Faustinae at and teaches voice at in White Rock. He has been a vocal clinician and consultant for various school, barbershop, community & church choirs. In August, 2019, Donnelly will be leading the "professional" section at the 2019 . The Symposium will feature some of Mark's compositions. While continuing to maintain his schedule of conducting and performing, Donnelly is currently developing Gregorian Chant and Seasonal Liturgical Choral Workshops. As time permits, he also offers vocal masterclasses. Donnelly has taught music and mathematics at the elementary and high school level, and logic and ethics at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, where he worked closely with Dr. Dennis McInery. Mark is also a music and .
