Mark King works for The Ohio State College of Medicine as an associate professor, associate program director and the residency program director, to name a few of his titles.
What many people may not know is that behind the lab coat is an unbelievably talented musician who has been playing for more than 60 years.
For 18 of those years, King has played the piano as part of the Christine’s Christmas concert to help raise money in memory of Dublin native Christine Wilson, who died in a fire in the University District in 2003.
Born and raised in Florida, King first discovered his musical talents at age 4 when his parents had bought an organ and began taking lessons. As he listened to them practice, he noticed when they messed up and he made sure to correct them.
“They would practice and I would say ‘No no, this note,’” King says. “And they were like, ‘Maybe we should get lessons for him.’”
Those lessons led to the discovery of King’s natural talent and passion for music, and became the starting point of his musical career.
When King was 13, he began playing the piano and organ professionally, getting gigs wherever he could. One of his early performances was with a band of college students, though King says they didn’t always see eye to eye on things.
“They hated the fact that I was with them. I was really cramping their style,” King says. “... I enjoyed playing and they were all good musicians, but it mostly wasn’t very fun.”
King continued to play well into his college years, but found that the more he put himself into his studies, the less time he had for music. Though he enjoyed his music, he also enjoyed helping people, so he poured his attention into his education and pursuing a career in medicine.
In 1986, King graduated from The Ohio State University with his doctorate and went on to complete his residency at what is now the OSU Wexner Medical Center. After his residency and an additional fellowship at a medical center in San Diego, King says, he just had to return to Ohio.
While finishing up school, King married his wife, Heidi, in 1990. The couple now have three children: daughters Laura and Allison, and son Michael.
With a growing family and developing career, music became more of a hobby that King unfortunately didn’t have much time for anymore.
That all changed in 2003.
When Wilson and her friends died in that fire, King says, he and his family were grief-stricken, as they were very close with her.
“She was like a daughter to us, honestly,” King says. “It was incomprehensible, unthinkable what happened to her. And for the next couple of months, we did whatever we could to deal with our grief.”
For King, that grieving took the form of playing music.
He returned to the piano bench and decided to record a Christmas CD – since it wasWilson’s favorite holiday – with the plan of donating all of the proceeds to the Christine Wilson Foundation.
Though he originally only made 500 copies to sell in small music shops around the Dublin area, King says, he ended up selling over 2,500 in total.
Soon after, King began receiving cards and letters from people who listened to his CD, with many sharing how the music impacted them.
“I knew at that point that I had really struck a chord with the audience, and there were people who wanted to hear this,” he says.
People began asking King if he would play the music live in a concert, so, in 2004, he brought the CD to life with the very first performance of Christine’s Christmas.
The event has grown, adding more performers and songs over the years, but the one thing that stayed the same is that all the proceeds go to different charities.
King says the changes in the show reflected not only the change in time, but also the change in how the people putting on the show feel.
“Some of the sorrow does turn to joy,” King says. “... And so, as such, the music has changed. I’ve changed and we all have grown.”
With this year being the 19th and final year of the show, King says it is a bittersweet feeling, but he has definitely enjoyed the opportunity. Though he is not sure if he will ever perform for something like this again, he is excited to see what the future holds.
“I, of course, definitely want to continue playing and creating. How, where (and) when I’m going to do that, I don’t know,” King says. “But for a while, I’m just going to sit back and contemplate where we’ve been. (And) maybe through that, we’ll see if there is a next chapter.”
Rachel Karas is an assistant editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.
