Engebretson did masters and doctoral studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where his composition teachers were M. William Karlins, Pauline Oliveros, Marta Ptaszyuska, Michael Pisaro, Stephen Syverud and Jay Alan Yim and his saxophone professor was Frederick L. Hemke. At Northwestern, Engebretson was awarded three Harry N. and Ruth F. Wyatt Fund grants, two of which supported premiere performances in Europe (Sweden and Austria). The premiere of Internal Bleeding (for 5 saxophones) was broadcast by the Swedish National Radio.

Engebretson has received several commissions from the Austrian Ministry of Culture. One, for the Vienna Saxophone Quartet, was to create a large-scale work for saxophone quartet and tape (Winter Ashes). The second, for Susan Fancher, is for alto saxophone and tape (She Sings, She Screams). Events, for cello and tape was the third, and was premiered by Ingrid Wagner-Kraft. All three of the works were premiered in Austria in 1995. Also in Vienna, Engebretson has been featured in a composer portrait at the Alte Schmiede and in the project "Crosses" with Austrian composer Wolfram Wagner in the context of the 1994 Wien Modern Festival. The most recent Austrian comrnission, Say a Prayer, but the Sea Wind Blows Them Out (to a text by Dina Elenbogen) for soprano voice, string quartet and tape was premiered in December 1996 in the Wien Modern Festival.

Tell no more of Enchanted Days (1992, for saxophone quartet) has been recorded on a compact disc by the Vienna Saxophone Quartet.

Mark Engebretson's compositions have been heard through performances by ensembles such as the Vienna Saxophone Quartet (Austria, Poland, Albania), Two To Tango (Sweden, Minnesota, New York), the Effiny Saxophone Duo (Sweden, Italy, USA), the Precipice Ensemble (Chicago, IL; Evanston, 1L; New York, NY), Kapture – an aural arts/electronic music ensemble (Chicago, IL), the Charming Finches (Minneapolis, MN), the Ensemble International de Saxophones de Bordeaux (Bordeaux, France) and the Ensemble de Musique Nouvelle (Bordeaux, France).