Mark Portmann is a record producer and songwriter who worked with Celine Dion and Josh Groban. Portman began to learn classical piano as a child, but beginning at Coconut Creek High School turned to pop music and jazz. He went to the Eastman School of Music on a scholarship, studying composition, and attended the University of Miami. In 1988, Portman became a keyboardist in the jazz group The Rippingtons, and left the group four years later.