About
Mary Byrne
Working now within the artistic community of Victoria, BC, Canada, Mary has devoted much of her musical life to performing, studying, and teaching the flute. She began her instrumental studies during her school years in the Northern Virginia area of Washington, DC with Lois Wynn, continuing on with Carol Kniebusch Noe at James Madison University in 1981. After transferring to study with Keith Bryan at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor the following year, she completed a B.Mus. in Flute Performance and Music Education (1985) and an M.Mus. in Flute Performance (1986).
She has also undertaken private and masterclass flute study with Bonita Boyd, Clement Barone, Judith Bentley, Susan Hoeppner, William Montgomery, Walfrid Kujala, Wissam Boustany, Lanny Pollet and Keith Underwood. Her Ph.D. in Musicology was received from the University of Victoria where she studied under Dr. Erich Schwandt. She completed a course of private study in conducting with Dr. Elizabeth A. H. Green in Ann Arbor, MI. She actively pursues vocal studies, currently with Nancy Argenta at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.
As Teacher...
Mary has been deeply involved with teaching music and developing musicians since her professional debut. She served as an Artistic Director at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and Chair of Music at Camosun College for nearly two decades. She currently teaches on the faculty of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, Camosun College, and Continuing Studies at the University of Victoria, as well as her own Piccolino Studio.
She is widely-sought as clinician, masterclass leader, examiner, and music festival adjudicator throughout Canada and in the U.S.
As Pedagogue…
Mary has continued to probe the teaching repertoire for its hidden gems.
Her 1996 article in The Flutist’s Quarterly, “Between Handel and Chaminade: Repertoire Choices for the Intermediate Flutist” moved her into the community eye as a creative flute teacher. At the invitation of the National Flute Association, her article “Challenge, Joy, and the Adolescent Flutist” appeared in The Flutist’s Handbook: A Pedagogy Anthology, vol. 2 (2012). She has been frequent presenter and performer at NFA Conventions since her first appearance in 1988.
With the Pedagogy Committee of the National Flute Association, she co-authored and directed the publication of the Selected Flute Repertoire: A Graded Guide series (2001, 2004, 2005, and 2009), the 2014 Flute Quartet Supplement, and the 2015 Commissioned Works supplement. In 2020 she contributed to the work of the most newest revision and expansion of the series.
Closer to home, built on work as Chief Examiner of the Victoria Conservatory of Music by collaborating with colleagues Canada-wide in the preparation fo the current Flute Syllabus of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto and the accompanying Overtones series (Frederich Harris).
Owner and Operator of
Piccolino Studio
Student Achievements Include:
- Prize winners at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival
- Winners at the BC Provincial Festival at all levels of competition
- Podium-position performances at the National Music Festival in the Woodwinds Division
- Consistently high marks at RCM examinations including Gold Medal and Silver Medal recipients
- Engagements with elite training orchestras and with full and part-time professional orchestras
- Concerto and solo-artist performances across Canada
- Acceptance to music programs of choice in universities throughout Canada and the US at the bachelors' degree, masters' degree levels, and apprenticeship levels, often with excellent music scholarship offers
As Performer...
Mary regularly performs throughout Victoria and Vancouver Island in a wide variety of venues.
She is a frequent performer with the Victoria Symphony and the Sidney Classical Orchestra. She performs as solo recitalist in many genres and settings, as concerto soloist with SCO, and in a wide-ranging classica chamber music groups and cross-over jazz ensembles.
She is founding member of the Aurora Trio and the Fairwinds Quintet, and founding host of the Harmonic Interludes chamber music lecture-concert series of the University of Victoria. She has been guest perfomer with the Ten-Strings Duo, Continuum Consort, Island Chamber Players, Old Schoolhouse Concerts series, Palm Court Orchestra, Chamber Music Victoria, and Ars Nova Group.
Mary particularly enjoys working directly with today’s composers. She is featured by Louise Eldridge in Butterfly Suite (Tapestries Recordings, 1994), the music of Stephen Brown, Birdsong in the Parkade by Karel Roessingh (2020 premiere with flute), and as piccolo soloist in Leslie Opatril’s Tangled Thoughts (2015 Canadian premiere, 2017 New York premiere).
As Musicologist…
Mary’s academic field of specialization is flute pedagogy and performance practice with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Her 1993 doctoral dissertation Tooters and tutors: flute performance practice derived from pedagogical treatises of the Paris Conservatoire, 1838-1927 is a study of the first large method-treatises produced in Paris for Boehm-system flute. The work is available through UVicSpace of the University of Victoria Libraries.
Her writings include liner notes for CDs by flutist Susan Hoeppner (Serenade for EMI Classics, Fantaisie Français for ArchivMusic), the McDermott/Bakenhaus/Zaitseva Trio (Trios for Piano, Flute and Bassoon for Classical Records). For many years, Mary annotated for annual Sampler Concerts of the National Flute Association. She is occasional program note writer and lecturer for the Victoria Symphony.
As animateur…
She may be heard in lectures series locally and farther afield. In addition to her regular course offerings for Camosun College and UVIC Continuing Studies, she is occasional lecturer for the Victoria Symphony and has recently contributed a five video series to VS’ Digital Learning platform. Since 2017 she has added the roles of academic expert and animateur for groups undertaking music tourism in Europe, both for the Victoria Conservatory of Music/Vision Travel Musical Milestones fund-raising tourism initiative and for Travel Tours under the auspices of University of Victoria Continuing Studies.
Mary carefully balances the demands of professional musicianship and family. She reserves some measure of time to indulge her love of knitting and other textile arts, and travel.
Keep up with Mary on her blog…it’s where she posts her most recent adventures.