About
Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, mezzo-soprano Mary Burke Barber, “reveals [her] powerfully rich voice of regal warmth and strength” (critic Patrick D. McCoy). Her 2025/2026 season includes her debuts with New Jersey Lyric Opera as Musetta in La bohème and Opera Southwest as Reina in the world premiere of The Farolitos of Christmas. She will return to Sarasota Opera to participate in the Winter 2026 Festival to cover Musetta in La bohème, and perform Mrs. Hayes in Susannah.
The 2024/2025 season brought Mary to Florida Grand Opera as a Studio Artist. She performed the roles of Die Zweite Dame in W. A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Giannetta in Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore, and Mercédès in Georges Bizet’s Carmen. In January 2025, Mary performed as a finalist in the Opera Tampa D’Angelo Young Artist Competition. At the start of 2024 season, she returned to Sarasota Opera as a Studio Artist, covering the roles of Micaёla in Georges Bizet’s Carmen, and Vespina in Joseph Haydn’s L’infedeltà Delusa.
The Winter of 2023, Mary joined Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist, singing in the chorus of Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Giuseppe Verdi’s Ernani, and Jules Massenet’s Thérèse. She was awarded the Sarasota Opera Guild Ann J. O’Donnell Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist. Additionally in 2023, Mary competed as a semi-finalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition
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Dardis and Mary Burke Barber [...] were beautifully matched not only in tone colors, but in confidence and ease in their role. [mixing the others] and Barber’s vocal agility in “Mêlons! Coupons!” emphasized the breadth of soprano voices.
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—Afton
Markay
The Fall of 2022, she joined the Westminster Opera Theater at Rider University as a guest artist to perform the role of Barigoule in a production of Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon. The Summer of 2022 brought Mary to Vienna, Austria to participate in the Vienna Summer Music Festival. There, she performed the role of Zerlina in W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and covered the role of Cherubino in W. A. Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro. Additionally in 2022, Mary received second place in the NATS Eastern Region Student Auditions (Advanced Level) and a Finalist in the MIOpera Competition.
Mary began her musical studies at the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore, Maryland under the care of Phyllis Bryn-Julson. During her undergraduate studies, she completed a joint degree with the Yong Siew The Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, under the direction of Alan Bennett. She completed her master's degree at Peabody under the tutelage of Denyce Graves-Montgomery and Margaret Baroody.