Mary Perkinson

Biography

Violinist, educator, Arts in Health practitioner, and citizen artist Mary Perkinson, D.M.A., began her violin studies at age five in the Philadelphia public schools. She has served as a visiting artist and lecturer throughout Europe, Asia, South America, and 35 U.S. states and is currently Full Professor of Violin & String Education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). Her work integrates performance, teaching, research, service learning, and community engagement, with a particular focus on the role of music in health, well-being, and human connection.

An active performer and chamber musician, Perkinson performs with the Omaha Symphony and has appeared with regional orchestras throughout the Northeast and upper Midwest. She is a founding member of the UNO Maverick String Quartet, which serves as the Healing Arts Quartet-in-Residence at Nebraska Medicine’s Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. She has also performed with the Crissey Concert Series, Musica Maxima, Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Madison Bach Musicians, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Concerts on the Platte, Vespers Concerts, Petite Musique, and the Omaha Chamber Music Society. Her artistic collaborations include performances of the six J.S. Bach sonatas for baroque violin and harpsichord, an appearance at Oregon’s Fringe Festival, and a national tour of Timeless Music, Timeless Disease: Classical Composers and Consumption, a cross-disciplinary lecture-recital created with microbiologist Yolande Chan, Ph.D.

A significant focus of Perkinson’s career has been Arts in Health and Music & Medicine. In 2009, she founded Sound Health: Bringing Music to Medicine, which enhances the environment of care for patients, visitors, and healthcare staff through live music while providing music students with meaningful performance and service-learning experiences. She also served as a faculty mentor with the Nebraska Medical Orchestra for 8 years, and holds a courtesy appointment in the Department of Neurological Sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where her collaborative interests include music, dementia care, and the healthcare environment.

Perkinson has developed additional community-based music initiatives that bring interactive musical experiences beyond traditional concert settings. She founded Music & Memory in 2018, which connects musicians and community participants through collaborative and creative music-making. Music & Memory includes students and professional musicians who engage with older adults and explore music as a vehicle for social engagement, reminiscence, connection, and quality of life. Across these projects, she is interested in how musicians can use their artistry to foster belonging and contribute meaningfully to the well-being of individuals and communities.

Most recently she was the recipient of a 5-year Weitz Innovation & Excellence grant which funds HeartBeats. HeartBeats builds an inclusive community through shared music-making, where students and adults with developmental disabilities learn from one another, cultivate meaningful relationships, and experience the transformative power of music through teaching, learning, and music making.

As an educator, Perkinson is committed to providing students with hands-on, real-world learning experiences and helping them recognize their agency as citizen musicians. She collaborates closely with university faculty and students, K–12 educators, healthcare professionals, and community partners to create programs that benefit both student learning and the communities they serve. In addition, her students teach and perform throughout the region and have earned recognition through the UNO Concerto Competition, UNO Creative Activity awards, and presentations at the American String Teachers Association National Conference and UNO research and creative activity fair.

Her commitment to inclusive programming has also included projects that brought together students and faculty to highlight music by historically underrepresented composers. She mentored a student for the first iteration of Powerful Perspectives: Celebrating Music by Underrepresented Composers, and curated the second iteration. These events included commissioned works, world premieres, and composer residencies with Gregory Walker as well as performances involving student, alumni, and faculty musicians.

Over the past decade, Perkinson has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator in securing more than $385,000 in funding for artistic collaborations, Music & Medicine and Arts in Health initiatives, service learning, community engagement, and student learning. She has published in the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, American String Teacher, the International Association for Music & Medicine Journal, and the Nebraska Music Educators Association Journal. She has presented internationally, nationally, regionally, and locally on topics including string pedagogy, service learning, Arts in Health, Music & Medicine, community engagement, and inclusive practices in music education.

Her contributions to the university and community have been recognized through awards and appointments including UNO’s Distinguished Auxiliary Appointment of Service, honoring contributions beyond the typical responsibilities of a faculty member. She has held positions in K–12 education, higher education, and arts administration, experiences that continue to shape her collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to teaching and artistic practice.

Perkinson holds degrees from Boston University, The Boston Conservatory, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her primary violin teachers include Felicia Moye, Vartan Manoogian, Magdalena Richter, Bayla Keyes, Lynn Chang, and Lee Snyder.

Throughout her career, Perkinson has sought to expand the role of the musician beyond the concert stage. Through the integration of artistry, teaching, research, and service, she prepares students to become thoughtful collaborators and citizen musicians who use music to create connection, strengthen communities, and contribute to the greater good.