Mark Chilla

Mark Chilla took over writing and hosting duties for Afterglow in February 2015, after the nine-year tenure of host David Brent Johnson (and the three-decade tenure of Dick Bishop!).

Mark has worked at WFIU since 2013, where he has held a number of jobs, including Production Director, the host and head writer of the music trivia show Ether Game from 2013-2020, the local host of All Things Considered and Weekend Edition Saturday at various points, and reporter for the WFIU Arts Bureau. Currently, he is WFIU's Program Director and Morning Edition host.

A Georgia native, Mark has been a musician all of his life. He has degrees in music theory and voice from the University of Georgia and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and has taught music at both IU and Butler University. He’s also a music scholar and educator, who’s given talks, taught classes, or published articles on varioius topics including the songs of Jerome Kern, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, the Beatles, and even classic blues guitar music and modern hip-hop music.

When not hosting Afterglow, Mark is teaching others about music, playing guitar or ukulele, teaching his son about music, or singing with the Bloomington choir Voces Novae. He has sung in almost every kind of musical genre, including jazz—he sang with the group Classic City Jazz in Athens, GA, and even sang jazz professionally for a time!