Today's Spotlight? Mary Elizabeth Ashton!

The spotlight is on Mary Elizabeth Ashton today!  She's a soprano who has sung with SACC for the past 4 seasons and she'll be joining us for our The Mystery of Christmas concert on Dec. 16 and 17!  Let's learn more about Mary!

Tell us about yourself, Mary!

I live in Austin, Texas and spent most of my childhood in Leonardtown, MD.  My parents were in the Navy so I also lived in Florida, Mississippi, and Japan while I was growing up.  I went to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA where I got a Bachelors of Music in Choral Music Education.  I taught high school choir for two years before moving to Austin where I developed a 6-12th grade youth choir program at St. David's Episcopal Church.  I've performed musical theater with Zilker Theater Productions in Austin, and more recently with Austin Shakespeare. I'm currently the Managing Director of the Austin Children's Choir and Marketing Consultant for Amphion Youth Choir. I also freelance as a non-profit arts consultant for ensembles in Central Texas. 

What other groups do you sing with? 

Ars Longa Ensemble, Inversion Ensemble, Austin Baroque Orchestra, Panoramic Voices, Austin Cantorum, and several church choirs

What's your favorite choral piece to sing or the most influential piece to you?

Thomas Tallis' Spem in Alium. This piece was a HUGE challenge for me as a sophomore in college. When we were handed the music, I remember thinking, "NO WAY are we going to pull this off." Sure enough, with tons of individual rehearsal and small group rehearsal, it all came together. I was incredibly proud of our ensemble, our individual choirs, and myself. The piece solidified my passion of early choral music and has absolutely led me to where I am today. 

What are your fondest musical memories?

Singing Vierne's Messe Solennelle in the Cathedral of Notre Dame at high mass on a Sunday. Being able to sing a piece of music in the place where it was meant to be performed with one of the world's most talented organists was, hands down, a moment I will never forget.  

Cathedral of Notre Dame

What is your proudest singing moment?

Singing the soprano solos for a performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor. Before that, I'd never considered myself a soloist. I cried every day for a month from stress prior to the performance. After the performance, it was and remains to be one of the only performances I've walked away from a performance thinking, "That couldn't have gone better."  

What's your favorite holiday carol?

Does "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" count? 

To: Mary
 From: Santa

Do you have any other passions/hidden talents?

 I love the outdoors! In fact, I don't spend as much time as I'd like outside because of my allergies and the way it affects my ability to sing. I love singing but I look forward to they day I retire from singing so I can do more outdoorsy things! 

Mary was a featured singer on SACC's newest album, Unfrozen: Christmas in the Baltics, which is now available for purchase on iTunes.  It's a beautiful album of Christmas and solstice music from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia and would make an excellent holiday gift for the classical music lover in your life!  For a limited time, donors who make a generous donation to SACC for $100 or more receive this beautiful CD as a gift!

If you love Mary and want to support her singing endeavors, please consider donating to the San Antonio Chamber Choir so that we can continue to provide San Antonio and South Texas with performances of the finest choral music featuring Mary and all our extremely talented singers!  Thank you so much!

Concert Time!
Come see Mary and the rest of the San Antonio Chamber Choir this December 16th and 17th for SACC's The Mystery of Christmas Concert!  This event celebrates 100 years of recorded jazz and 1,000 years of choral music in a combined concert with special guests, the Jazz Protagonists.  Also featured will be the North East School of the Arts Dancers and the Clark High School Choir.