Mary grew up in south Louisiana where good food and good music abound. She started singing at age nine, then joined the band on clarinet in sixth grade. During high school, Mary played  in the band and sang in the choir. In addition to being a classically trained Mezzo Soprano and Cantor, Mary plays clarinet, bass clarinet, and alto saxophone. After studying some of both Instrumental and Vocal Education majors in college, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Communications from UL Lafayette in 1994. Her husband’s USAF military career then took Mary and their four sons around the globe. Once her husband retired from active duty, Mary went back to school, became an English teacher, and taught sixth through twelfth grade in New Mexico for five years. Her husband’s career brought the family to Virginia in 2020. She learned about the Prince William Community Band from a fellow parishioner at church. She dusted off her clarinet, rebuilt her chops, and joined the band in August 2023. 

When she’s not performing with a choir or band, Mary likes to spend time with family, especially her two grandbabies. Her hobbies include acrylic painting, crochet, and baking. She recently turned her baking hobby into a business, selling custom royal icing sugar cookies from her cottage business, Mama Danos Cookies.