Biography

Mark Bulmer is a self-taught pianist, composer, performer, and producer of improvisational solo piano music for tv, film, video games, soundtracks and content, including YouTube history channels with millions of views. As a recording artist he has released five original solo piano concept albums, the latest being Imperium in March 2025. His story is quite extraordinary.

Mark is 2e ASD-1 and a Polymath. A child chess prodigy, he learned at just six years of age. Having won numerous adult open tournaments and multi-board exhibitions, he was expected to become a Candidate Master while still a junior. However, at thirteen he stopped playing to focus on soccer. A talented goalscorer at youth level, he was scouted by several English teams. But, a serious injury at 19 ended any career prospects, so he moved to Florida to attend college.

To help deal with the frustration of surgery and rehab, his mum bought him a keyboard. He never took a single lesson, and to this day does not read music, yet taught himself in just three weeks. He immediately began improvising complex piano solos, which he performed at weddings and hotels around Orlando, including The Peabody, The Plaza, and Dolphin. He then accepted a six-night-per-week residency at the prestigious Arthur’s 27 in the Buena Vista Palace.

Over the next three years he completed more than 1,000 performances for audiences from all over the world. But, frequent bouts of autistic burnout became too much, so he walked away from music … for two decades. During this time he worked in Real Estate in both New York City and Florida. He only performed twice, at The Bechstein in Manhattan and the Napoleon in Rome.

By 2023, Mark hadn’t touched a piano in years. But, one afternoon he sat down to see if he could still create music and immediately improvised the haunting “Elysian Fields,” which appears on his comeback album Contact. He then released his entire catalog for licensing across all forms of media, racking up millions of views on history channels.

Mark previously featured in magazines like Jam and Lifestyle, but now prefers a simple, more reclusive life and avoids publicity. However, in 2025 he made a rare appearance as a special guest on One World Music Radio after two of his piano solos, “Rubicon” & “Spellbound,” entered the OWMR Top 40.

To date he has released five concept albums. Images (1996), After the Storm (2013), Koan (2017) Contact (2023) and Imperium (2025). Everything was written the same way. A brief meditation on a theme while noodling on the piano. Hit record. Go where it takes him. Unedited, unrehearsed one-take improvisations. Just as the universe intended.

Beyond music, Mark is passionate about sports, weightlifting, boxing and shooting. As an avid reader, he studies everything from Roman history and philosophy to quantum mechanics and simulation theory.