MockingBird Music employs 25 teachers - more bios will be added soon!

Mary Casale, Violin, Viola, Cello instructor • Undergraduate Degree in Music Education from Rhode Island College Masters in Music Education from Rhode Island College • Started playing violin at age 11 • 30 years teaching experience with all ages K-12 in public and private schools in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She has also taught at the college level for Rhode Island College and UMassDartmouth. Professionally, Mary composes and writes music for live theatre and dance. Mary currently teaches at Qualters Middle School in Mansfield and is the Director of the Qualters Middle School Orchestra. “For as long as I’ve been studying music, I never stop growing”, states Mary Cassale, one of MockingBird’s most experienced instructors. “Music has profoundly shaped my world-view. It has the power to open minds to more expansive horizons.” Her favorite part of teaching is sharing that experience with kids, which she has been doing since 1974. Mary loves the music of Rossini and Boulez as well as Simon and Garfunkle and Buck Evans (who, if you didn’t know, cut his teeth playing piano in Alaskan saloons.) She is also fascinated by music that features an eclectic mix of instruments, particularly that which combines live performance with computer generated tones and patterns. While Mary focuses her teaching on traditional violin technique, she does own and occasionally performs with an electric violin that she enhances with looping and delay devices as well as other digital effects. She cites John Cage, George Crumb and Karlheinz Stockhausen as vital influences in this more avant-garde realm. Mary is committed to continuous refinement of her teaching methods and also hopes to compose more music. She urges her students to never get discouraged. “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t or shouldn’t do it. There can’t ever be enough musicians in the world.”

Karen Smith, violin instructor/i> • Graduate of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. • Playing violin for over 40 years. Also plays flute. • Has been teaching violin for 25 years. • Has performed with the Lima Symphony, the Ohio Symphony, the Bowling Green Symphony, the University of Miami Symphony as well as the Brockton and Attleboro Symphonies. • Favorite artists include Arthur Fiedler, Isaac Stern and Antonio Vivaldi. Karen was born and raised in Ohio in a musical family. Among her earliest musical recollections is her grandfather playing drums in jazz big band. She started studying violin at age seven. By age nine she was the First Chair and Concert Mistress for the Ohio Symphony Orchestra. She later studied privately with the Conductor of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. “Playing before live audiences at such an early age really helped me overcome shyness and gain a great deal of self-confidence that I’ve applied in other areas of my life,” says Karen. At this point she has turned her attention to teaching others the musical skills that will do the same for them. “I love teaching children because they are so open to accepting music as part of their lives. It is always a thrill for me to see a student progress on their instrument as a result of advice I share with them.”