After learning the recorder at primary school, he was inspired to take up the clarinet after hearing the famous opening swoop of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.
His compositions have been performed by the New York Sinfonietta and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and have been championed by the likes of Mark Anthony Turnage, who heard one of his works during a recent visit to Liverpool.
Mark impressed judges in the competition's semi-final in February by performing a piece called Lov (Escape), which he had composed.
Now he is working on commissions for 2008 from the National Youth Orchestra and the Liverpool Philharmonic.
The biennial BBC Young Musician of the Year competition was established in 1978 and attracted outstanding talent from the start.
Marin Alsop, principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and chairman of the panel of judges, said after Saturday's event: "It's heartening to see the future of classical music looking so bright."
All the finalists, selected from 25 young musicians who took part in the semi-finals in February, will appear at the Wigmore Hall in London, in a recital series supported by the Tabor Foundation which begins on September 14.
* MARK'S winning recital can be seen again at www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo
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