Check out this article about the Mark Snyder Show in Fredericksburg from The Free Lance Star:

FORMER ‘BURG RESIDENT TACKLES A VARIETY OF TOPICS DURING MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE

BY JESSE SCOTT

FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Mark Snyder is the type of guy you really have to see to believe.

On record, his classically infused tunes are simple, soft and provide the perfect soundtrack to a reflective and productive day. But in concert, accompanied by light and video elements, the electronic composer’s pieces really come to possess a life, of their own.

Snyder will visit Charlottes Street’s Eyeclopes Studios on Saturday.

“You really get surrounded by the sound and the light and it really seems to resonate with people,” said Snyder in a phone interview from New York. “You come to the show and at least one piece emotionally or intellectually connects with you before you leave. It’s so nice to have people come up to me and say they’ve been moved.”

While many artists focus solely on sound quality with few external factors, Snyder is all about ambience and creating a truly unique multimedia experience. His pieces centralize around a single instrument (often tuba, clarinet and accordion), backed by subtle rhythmic hints.

In concert, a video projector feeding colorfully designed imagery (from modernly crafted footage to Snyder’s kids’ artwork) accompanies the composer to better illustrate each song.

“It’s very laid-back, and it’s intimate as far as using a singular instrument goes,” said Snyder. “It works incredibly well with film.”

Snyder’s music generally tells a story from his personal experiences and perspective. His compositions have no words, yet evoke the same feelings as a deep, intellectual conversation.

His latest album, “Messy,” was released in January and features seven insightful tales. Over the course of the album, Snyder tells the story of a weekend chaperoning students and spotlights a Swedish dock worker turned astronaut.

“Harvey,” the first track on the album, reflects on the 2006 murders of the Harvey family in Richmond. The song gives insight into Snyder’s internal battle to overcome fear and return to normalcy.

“The piece really helped me to get over a bad time,” said Snyder. “The murders really struck me and made me nervous all the time. I was struggling with loss, so I wrote this to help break away from my fears.”

These days, Snyder calls the Deep South his home. After a three-year teaching stint e at Delta State University in Mississippi, he recently accepted the position of assistant professor of entertainment at the University of North Alabama.

Snyder received his bachelor’s degree from Mary Washington in 1997 and graduated from North Stafford High School in 1988. He’s performed throughout the United States, Europe and even New Zealand, but still loves a nice trip back to the ‘Burg.

“This is a good way to come back home and share my music with my friends, family and the Fredericksburg community,” said Snyder.

With his tunes and projector in hand, Snyder is bound to make a few more friends during his visit. And maybe he can convince a few more folks that classical music doesn’t have to be boring after all.

“This is a different way to experience classical music,” said Snyder. “It’s a way for people to realize that there’s classical music beyond Beethoven, Bach and what they hear on NPR.”