Mary Box is a conductor, pianist, and arts leader based in Houston Texas. After being on music staff for over forty operas at the Dallas Opera and Minnesota Opera among others, Mary studied orchestral conducting in workshops in seven countries, including the Ukraine, Czech Republic, Austria, Finland, Mexico, and Egypt. 

 

As an arts leader, Mary is the founder and artistic director of the Montrose Project, which focuses on celebrating and performing works by women composers. On March 22nd and 24th, the Montrose Project will be presenting two concerts: one chamber concert by Duo Impetuoso from Rice University, and one choral showcase including the Casulana Women’s Choir and University of Houston’s Soundscape.

 

In 2023, Mary was commissioned by Houston Grand Opera Community & Learning to conduct and co-create a fully-staged musical revue of classical and musical theatre works alongside stage director Evan Tsitsias. She also led the world premiere of Mark Buller’s opera, The Impresario of Oz, at HGO in 2022, and will be leading Faye Chiao’s Secret Code of Mary Bowser in 2024. 

 

Since 2022, she has served as the Assistant Conductor for the University of Houston’s Moores Opera Center, leading rehearsals and providing diction coaching to productions such as Philip Glass’ La belle et la bête, Die Fledermaus, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Offenbach’s M. Choufleuri restera chez lui, Die lustige Witwe, and Così fan tutte.

 

In April of 2024, Mary joins DACAMERA for Music for New Bodies, a major new work and exciting first collaboration between the composer Matthew Aucoin and legendary director Peter Sellars, co-commissioned by DACAMERA, the Aspen Music Festival, Los Angeles Opera, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University’s new Brockman Hall with Kathryn Lewek, Meryl Dominguez, Rachael Wilson, Brenton Ryan, and Cory McGee.

 

Despite her busy schedule, Mary maintains an active coaching schedule from her home in Houston, Texas, where she has had the opportunity to work with esteemed Grammy winners such as Sasha Cooke, Reginald Smith, Jr., and Richard Paul Fink.