Piano
Mary Jane Austin earned her Bachelor's Degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Olga Radosavljevich and Vivian Weilerstein. She then pursued graduate studies in vocal coaching and accompanying, studying both art song and opera at Duquesne University with Warren Jones and Claudia Pinza. She has worked as an accompanist and coach for six summers at the EPCASO opera program in Oderzo, Italy, with mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, soprano Young Ok Shin, and baritones Richard Bernstein and Michael Chioldi, among others, and returned there this past July to work with Maestro Maurizio Arena. Closer to home, she performs regularly with the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble, the Vermont Youth Orchestra choruses, and the Mad River Chorale. She has played for several silent films at the Vergennes Opera House. She was the music director/rehearsal pianist for Unadilla Theater's Gilbert and Sullivan festival this past summer, and recently was the rehearsal pianist for the Opera Company of Middlebury's productions of Thais and Madame Butterfly. She currently teaches at Johnson State College and is the organist at the Waterbury Congregational Church.
