Staff & faculty

Composer Mark Buller writes music which seeks to find beauty and drama in unusual ways, but through the medium of traditional forms. He has written a wide variety of works, from operas and orchestral works to very short miniatures for solo instruments. His music has been heard in venues both on and off the beaten path: from Carnegie Hall and Rothko Chapel to art spaces and museums in Munich and Sydney. His flexibility as a composer has led to some unique projects and commissions: four operas for Houston Grand Opera — including a pastiche opera — with libretti by Charles Anthony Silvestri and Euan Tait (together totaling over 180 performances since 2015); a series of poignant art songs and a major choral work also for HGO, setting words by veterans and by Leah Lax; and eighty very short pieces for various forces, entitled Quarantine Miniatures, written during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Mark is best known for Mass in Exile, a 40-minute choral work with text by Leah Lax commissioned for an all-Buller concert by Houston Chamber Choir, and subsequently recorded commercially by Conspirare on advena, an all-Buller album released on the Divine Art label. The Mass heads to Carnegie Hall in April 2026 for its New York premiere by the Cecilia Chorus of New York. Mark also has a long association with two Houston ensembles: Apollo Chamber Players, with eight commissions and counting (including the quartet Rückblick, recorded on the Azica label) and ROCO, with seven commissions. Other repeat performers/commissioners include the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Chamber Players, and ECHO.

Mark’s work with AFA began in 2012 as a Teaching Artist. He served as a part of the AFA Executive Staff from 2017 to 2025 as both Director of Education and Chair of Composition Studies. He is continuing his role in Composition Studies, where he runs the year-round and summer composition programs, which have garnered national attention and led to presentations at TMEA and the Suzuki Association of America National Conference (Minneapolis).

Mark is a full-time member of the music faculty at Houston City College. He is a Hermitage Fellow, a Hambidge Seikilos Focus Fellow, and an AIR Serenbe Fellow. He and his wife are cat parents to Anya and Apollo, who keep them busier than any of the above.

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