About Mary
With a varied musical appetite, Mary performs as a soloist, chamber musician, orchestral harpist, and in the community. She has a passion for giving recitals that showcase the harp’s full potential, especially in rural communities and settings where live music is a novelty.
Previous solo recitals include Skye Chamber Music, Isle of Arran Music, Classic Music Live! Falkirk, the Bowes Museum, Ripon Cathedral, and Holkham Hall in Norfolk, as well as at London’s Wigmore Hall. Mary has been concerto soloist with the King’s Chamber Orchestra, Kingston Chamber Players, Thames Consort, St Cecilia Orchestra in Yorkshire and the Vacation Chamber Orchestra playing works by Handel, Debussy, Mozart and Rodrigo. She has performed on recordings for Linn Records with Trevor Pinnock, with the Gabrieli Consort and on Paul Patterson’s CD of harp works.
Freelance orchestral work has included performances with Scottish Opera, Royal Opera House, Opera North, Aurora Orchestra, CBSO, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, and RSNO at the Edinburgh International Festival. She has also performed in the West End on the Les Mis Concert Version and Paddington in Concert.
With a passion for chamber music, Mary often works with smaller groups: Theatre of Sound, the London Sinfonietta, OperaUpClose, and the London Concertante to name a few. She recently formed the Howells Reid Duo with flautist Matthew Howells. In new music settings, Mary has performed several world premieres including works by Richard Bissell, Thomas Chevis and Gareth Wood. She regularly accompanies choirs such as the choristers of Leeds Cathedral, Sherborne Abbey School, and Lancing College.
Mary absolutely loves taking the harp to settings where people might not otherwise hear live music and goes regularly into schools, day centres and hospitals. Mary works with the Live Music Now Scotland charity, leading workshops and mentoring younger musicians in SEN settings, as well as giving participatory performances for adults living with dementia. For two years she played weekly on wards at St Mary’s Hospital after volunteering there in 2020/21. Mary is a long term supporter of UCCF’s Music Network, and has performed with the Christian groups the All Soul’s Orchestra and the King’s Chamber Orchestra. She currently is on the dep teaching list for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior Department.
EDUCATION: Now based in central Scotland, Mary gained both her MA in Performance with Distinction and her Bachelor of Music (1st Class Hons) from the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with her harp professor of ten years Professor Emerita Skaila Kanga. Prior to attending conservatoire, Mary studied with Marcia Dickstein in Los Angeles, Sarah Bullen in Chicago and Sophie Askew in Edinburgh, her original hometown.