Mark Jackovic

The music community is filled with loving and caring individuals that want to work together to propel the success of each other. The team at Theo Wanne is no exception. When I have questions about their products or ideas I feel safe and confident that they will answer me truthfully and be honest about the possibilities. Theo Wanne is pushing what it means to produce a great sound on the saxophone all the while creating a community of support. If Steve Jobs and the team at Lamborghini got together to create a saxophone mouthpiece the result would be what Theo Wanne achieved. The combination of design and performance is like nothing I’ve experienced.

Saxophonist and educator, Mark Jackovic earned a bachelors degree from Duquesne University in music education in 2011. Following graduation Jackovic played in several bands throughout the Pittsburgh region. In 2011 as part of the Center of Life Jazz Band, Jackovic took 2nd place in the Open Combo division at the Next Generation Jazz Festival in Monterey, CA. In 2012 Jackovic was accepted into The Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where he earned a Masters degree in jazz performance. During Jackovic’s time at Rutgers University he studied, improvisation, arranging, composition, jazz history, and jazz theory under Conrad Herwig, Kenny Davis, Victor Lewis, Mark Gross, Lewis Porter and Bill O’Connell as well as a myriad of guest artists. Rutgers University also gave him the opportunity to study privately from theorist, composer, and saxophonist Ralph Bowen. From 2014 to 2016 Jackovic worked as the Jazz Coordinator at Center of Life, an out of school program in music and arts that serves the Hazelwood community of Pittsburgh. While working for Center of Life Jackovic developed curriculum, taught 1st through 12th grade students, managed program budgets, and performed managerial duties. Also, during that time Jackovic worked part-time as the Front House Coordinator at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. Currently Jackovic is working full time as the Jazz Education and Archives Manager at Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG). MCG Jazz has embedded a new jazz curriculum in several counties within West Virginia with the help of Jackovic. Jackovic is a published archivist providing materials for the PBS documentary “We Knew We Had: The Greatest Jazz Story Never Told” a film about the history of Pittsburgh and the jazz musicians who helped the music thrive. During the pandemic Jackovic created a suite of archival videos utilizing the MCG Jazz Pittsburgh Jazz Legends Oral History Collection in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History.