About Me.
Mary Jo was born and raised in Anchorage Alaska, a second generation Alaskan she left the last frontier after high school to pursue her love of music at Boston University.
Since moving to Chicago in 1999 she has been an active freelance musician, performing in the Chicagoland area with Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Elgin Symphony, New Philharmonic, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Outside of Illinois Mary Jo has worked with both the Milwaukee Ballet and the Milwaukee Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra and the South Bend Symphony. Mary Jo has performed in Miami, Florida with the New World Symphony Orchestra and has toured across Japan with the Pacific Music Festival where she worked with Academy Award winning composer, Tan Dun. ​
An avid lover of Broadway and movie music she has performed countless operas and shows, including touring with The Phantom of the Opera and the 2010 North American Tour of Star Wars in Concert. Mary Jo has performed in concert with Zelda, Symphony of Goddesses, Video Games Live! and recorded the PBS special, A Christmas Carol, Live in Concert, which premiered Christmas 2013. Mary Jo can be heard on a wide range of CD’s, including, Sam Winch’s Senator!, the Grammy nominated Hotel Lafayette with Denise Brigham, and The C.O.W.L. Sessions, an album of Jazz nonets by composer Joe Clark. Mary Jo is a member of the Millar Brass Ensemble and can be heard on the groups numerous recordings.
Most recently Mary Jo has been on the ground floor of reimagining “live” performance, thanks to the 2020 pandemic, forming and creating various virtual concert opportunities with the ‘Rona Horn Quartet. A documentary on their work, "From Corona to ‘Rona: One quartet's journey in and out of the pandemic.”, was presented at the August 2021, International Horn Symposium and can be viewed on the groups YouTube channel.
Mary Jo's academic credits include a BM Cum Laude from Boston University, a MM from Northwestern University, and a Certificate of Performance from DePaul University.
When not tooting her horn Mary Jo enjoys sewing, home DIY projects and learning new tricks for photography and videography. She resides in Chicago’s historic Portage Park neighborhood on the northwest side with her musician/educator husband and their two children.
Education
2003 -2005
DePaul University
Certificate Music Performance
Private teachers included Jon Boen and Oto Carillo.
Orchestral studies teachers Cliff Colnot and Don DeRoche.
1999 - 2000
Northwestern University
Master of Music
Private teachers included Gail Williams and Bill Barnewitz.
Orchestral studies teachers, Mallory Thompson and Victor Yampolsky.
1995 - 1999
Boston University
Bachelor of Music, Brass Performance, Cum Laude
Private teachers included Seth Orgel and Rick Menaul.
Studio, orchestral studies & chamber music teachers, Eric Ruske, Roger Voisin, David Hoose, Atlantic Brass Quintet & Roman Totenberg.