Mary Bonhag is an “extraordinary” singer (Classical Voice N. America) committed to the healing powers of song. She is both a new-music specialist and a singer deeply devoted to sacred music across the ages. Mary was featured on Resonant Bodies Festival, and has sung with 21st Century Consort, and San Francisco Contemporary Players. Mary recently premiered and recorded a new chamber opera by Susan Botti, River Spirits, an allegorical tale featuring Mary, Susan Botti, and Lucy Shelton and a mixed ensemble of new and old instruments. Mary is sought after for her impeccable musicianship and “supple expressive voice” (San Antonio News) for concert work, both oratorio and orchestral song cycles. She solos frequently with Filippo Ciabatti and Upper Valley Baroque, as well as Viva Bach Peterborough, and was a soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with John Butt at Middlebury Bach Festival. Some favorite performances have been singing Luonnotar by Sibelius with the American Symphony Orchestra with Leon Bottstein, Mozart Requiem with Vermont Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Crust, Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with CEL Orchestra, and a workshop premiere of David T. Little’s dystopian opera Dog Days at Carnegie Hall. From 2010-2025, Mary served as Artistic Director of Scrag Mountain Music which she co founded to bring exceptional chamber music to Vermont audiences in affordable and innovative ways. She is passionate about how music has the power to heal individuals and communities, and has been leading Taizé chant services both online and in person since 2020 and recorded Kathy Wonson Eddy’s Wellspring: Centering Chants for Uncertain Times in 2020. Collaborations and relationships are central to Mary’s professional life as a singer and she enjoys close partnerships with Aizuri Quartet, Aeolus Quartet, Decoda, conductor Filippo Ciabatti, as well as numerous composers including premiering or commissioning works by Lembit Beecher, Susan Botti, Libby Larsen, Evan Premo, Shawn Jaeger, Eliza Brown, Evan Chambers, and C. Curtis Smith. In 2022, she was featured vocalist and improviser for acclaimed dancer Hannah Dennison’s site-specific work “The Quarry Project,” performed on floating stages in a flooded granite quarry. After studies at University of Michigan and Bard College under Dawn Upshaw’s mentorship, she was invited as a resident artist to SongFest, Fall Island, and Tanglewood. While at Tanglewood, she was honored with the Grace B. Jackson Prize, and her performances of Schoenberg’s String Quartet no. 2, excerpts from Lutoslawski’s Chantefleurs et Chantefables, Grieg and Sibelius songs, and David Lang’s Just were received with great acclaim.
