Mary M.

At age 6, Mary started piano lessons with the encouragement of her mother. Because her older brother and two sisters had played piano and a band instrument when they were in school, it was assumed Mary would do the same. She added flute in 6th grade and guitar in 8th. By this time, she had decided that music should be her life's career. During her junior high and high school years, she sang in chorus and played in band and orchestra, including some All-County and All-District events. She also continued taking piano lessons through high school, adding theory lessons in 11th grade.

Mary attended University Of Arizona in Tucson on a full-tuition music scholarship and earned her Bachelor of Music Education and her Master's of Music in Flute Performance. While in college, Mary continued to study both flute and piano. As a music education major, she had to learn to play all of the band and orchestra instruments in order to teach them. She played principal flute in the Symphony and Repertory Orchestras at University of Arizona. She also played second flute in The Tucson Symphony, with her teacher playing principal flute. In Mary's senior year, she won an orchestra competition to play a major work with the orchestra accompanying, which was a very exciting opportunity for her!

Mary saw much success as a performer following her studies, and she continues to perform regularly today. Some of the major highlights of her orchestra experiences include: The Concord Orchestra in Massachusetts, playing principal flute for 13 years, The Lowell Opera Company, the Nashua Symphony, the Raleigh Civic Symphony Orchestra, and the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra where she currently plays principal flute. In addition, she learned to play the church pipe organ and even held a position as church organist while living in Nashua, NH.

Mary's skillset doesn't stop at her performance abilities, as she also teaches flute, piano, and guitar lessons privately, and has over 50 years of experience as an educator. Her teaching centers on starting where her students are, and advancing progressively with scales, studies/etudes, tone, etc. at the pace that works best for the student. What she wants to convey to her students about music is that it can be lots of fun for life, and that it can be a great way to release emotions in a positive manner. She also finds that there is a real sense of accomplishment and reward when a group of musicians play together to produce a wonderful piece of music for a crowd of people. She hopes to effectively express to her students that while it takes discipline to commit oneself to practice on a daily basis, the rewards are great!