Mary Oliver (musician)

Mary Oliver (* 1956 in La Jolla , California) is an American violinist (violin, viola, Hardanger fiddle ) specializing in new music , improvised music and avant-garde jazz .

Oliver studied violin and viola at San Francisco State University and Mills College (Masters of Fine Arts). In 1993 she completed her doctorate at and at the University of California, San Diego on the theory and practice of improvisation, which is an essential part of her concert career ( Constellations in Play: A Model of Improvisation ).

Mary Oliver

As a soloist she plays both composed and improvised music. Mary Oliver played many world premieres, including a. Compositions by Richard Barrett , John Cage , Chaya Czernowin , Morton Feldman , Brian Ferneyhough , Liza Lim , George Lewis and Richard Teitelbaum . Oliver is a member of the Nieuw Ensemble , SONOR and KIVA, but also the ICP Orchestra . She kicked u. a. together with Ab Baars , Sean Bergin , Tobias Delius , Ig Henneman , Tristan Honsinger , Achim Kaufmann , Joëlle Léandre , Thomas Lehn , George Lewis, Misha Mengelberg , Phil Minton , Michael Moore and Evan Parker . She has received invitations to festivals around the world such as the North American New Music Festival , the Xenakis Festival in Buffalo , the Darmstadt Summer Courses , the Donaueschinger Musiktage and the Ars Electronica ( Linz ).

Mary Oliver lives in Amsterdam , where she is professor at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten and musical director of the Magpie Music Dance Company .

Discography (selection)

• Witchfiddle (ICP 038, 2001)
• ICP Orchestra, Oh, My Dog! (ICP 040)
• ICP Orchestra, Aan en Uit (ICP 042)
• Ig Henneman Strijkkwartet, Pes (Wig 05)
• Jomo (Neos, 2009), with Johanna Varner
• Greetje Bijma / Nora Mulder / Mary Oliver: Picatrix (ICP 61)

Web links

• Mary Oliver at Allmusic (English)
• Mary Oliver at Discogs (English)