Mary-Lou Patricia Vetere, Accordion

Mary-Lou Patricia Vetere, Accordion
	Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Mary-Lou Vetere has performed extensively in three performance areas: piano, accordion, and voice. She holds a bachelor of music (cum laude) in voice performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a master’s degree in historical musicology (SUNY at Buffalo), and has recently completed her Ph.D. (ABD) in historical musicology, philosophy and theory. She has taught musicological studies as a member of the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University and at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Ms. Vetere concerns herself, musicologically, with the development of Italian opera at the turn of the 19th century, with a focus on the operas of La Scapigliatura, a relatively unknown period of opera from 1860 to 1890. She is currently working on her dissertation, “From Verdi to Verismo: Boito and the translation of La Scapigliatura from Literature to Opera”, which is expected to be a landmark publication for historiographical studies in 19th-century Italian opera. Her specialist area involves the music and life of Giacomo Puccini, with concentration on specialized performance practices and Puccinian aesthetics. Ms. Vetere is also an avid voice coach and enjoys merging her love of the Italian and French languages with her understanding of musical aesthetics. In addition to her academic pursuits, Ms. Vetere has performed on Stradella and free-bass accordion in Canada and the United States. She began her studies on the accordion at the age of four and won numerous competitions, including the Canadian Accordion Competition, The American Guild of Music Competition, and The Toronto Music Festival. At the age of 14, she won the highest honour at the Toronto Music Festival, and was the recipient of the Most Outstanding Performer award. She was also the recipient of the Ernst Borgstrom Challenge Trophy two years consecutively in 1994 and1995 at the Canadian Accordion Competition and the National Champion of the American Guild of Music for three years consecutively. She studied with renowned accordion master, Boris Borgstrom. Ms. Vetere has performed with numerous chamber groups and arranged and performed Latin-based works for her own group, which performed throughout the Southern Ontario circuit from 1990 to 1998. She has been praised for her precise technique, fiery finger-work, and passionate rhythmic verve. Ms. Vetere continues to be an advocate for the accordion and Latin-based performance repertoire. She is currently collaborating with Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber and pianist Peter Tiefenbach on a CD featuring diverse international genres Her great love, however, is the voice and Ms. Vetere has also performed as a mezzo-soprano soloist in oratorios, operas, and numerous recitals in association with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Gallery Players, the North York Symphony, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, the RAI symphonic orchestra, the Rossini Opera Orchestra, and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. Her Carnegie Hall debut took place in December of 2001 as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Messe in C and the Chorale Fantasie with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the direction of Dr. Harold Rosenbaum. She frequently adjudicates voice, piano, and accordion, and has given master classes and workshops throughout Ontario and the United States.

Born and raised in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Mary-Lou Vetere has performed extensively in three performance areas: piano, accordion, and voice. She holds a bachelor of music (cum laude) in voice performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, a master’s degree in historical musicology (SUNY at Buffalo), and has recently completed her Ph.D. (ABD) in historical musicology, philosophy and theory. She has taught musicological studies as a member of the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University and at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Ms. Vetere concerns herself, musicologically, with the development of Italian opera at the turn of the 19th century, with a focus on the operas of La Scapigliatura, a relatively unknown period of opera from 1860 to 1890. She is currently working on her dissertation, “From Verdi to Verismo: Boito and the translation of La Scapigliatura from Literature to Opera”, which is expected to be a landmark publication for historiographical studies in 19th-century Italian opera. Her specialist area involves the music and life of Giacomo Puccini, with concentration on specialized performance practices and Puccinian aesthetics. Ms. Vetere is also an avid voice coach and enjoys merging her love of the Italian and French languages with her understanding of musical aesthetics.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Ms. Vetere has performed on Stradella and free-bass accordion in Canada and the United States. She began her studies on the accordion at the age of four and won numerous competitions, including the Canadian Accordion Competition, The American Guild of Music Competition, and The Toronto Music Festival. At the age of 14, she won the highest honour at the Toronto Music Festival, and was the recipient of the Most Outstanding Performer award. She was also the recipient of the Ernst Borgstrom Challenge Trophy two years consecutively in 1994 and1995 at the Canadian Accordion Competition and the National Champion of the American Guild of Music for three years consecutively. She studied with renowned accordion master, Boris Borgstrom. Ms. Vetere has performed with numerous chamber groups and arranged and performed Latin-based works for her own group, which performed throughout the Southern Ontario circuit from 1990 to 1998. She has been praised for her precise technique, fiery finger-work, and passionate rhythmic verve. Ms. Vetere continues to be an advocate for the accordion and Latin-based performance repertoire. She is currently collaborating with Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber and pianist Peter Tiefenbach on a CD featuring diverse international genres

Her great love, however, is the voice and Ms. Vetere has also performed as a mezzo-soprano soloist in oratorios, operas, and numerous recitals in association with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, The Gallery Players, the North York Symphony, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, the RAI symphonic orchestra, the Rossini Opera Orchestra, and the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. Her Carnegie Hall debut took place in December of 2001 as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Messe in C and the Chorale Fantasie with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the direction of Dr. Harold Rosenbaum. She frequently adjudicates voice, piano, and accordion, and has given master classes and workshops throughout Ontario and the United States.