Mary Jane grew up in small-town Iowa, singing solos and playing the piano in the church and community. In high school, she sang throughout the state including a solo performance at the governor’s mansion, the Iowa House of Representatives, and for the then-Texas governor’s wife, Laura Bush. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in vocal music education from Simpson College and a Master’s in vocal performance from the University of Nebraska. Her passion for music, life, and meaning has propelled her to become a multi-faceted musician. From singing professionally to conducting choirs, directing music programs, playing piano, organ, and guitar, and teaching music, to now composing and recording, Mary Jane has never stopped making music.
As a professional singer, Mary Jane has appeared with companies across the Midwest including Opera Memphis, Opera Cedar Rapids, Opera Quad Cities, Opera Omaha, Des Moines Metro Opera, Theatre Memphis, Revival Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, City Circle Acting Company, and more. Favorite roles include Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Zulma in Italian Girl in Algiers, Mary in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Girl in Once.
As a concert soloist, Mary Jane is an established Bach Vocal Artist for the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Florida where she regularly solos and sings in the professional ensemble; works include Vivaldi’s Magnificat, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and Purcell’s Hymn for St. Cecilia. She sang with Rhodes Mastersingers and the Memphis Symphony in Bach’s B Minor Mass and a regional premier of Jennifer Higdon’s Ruminations featured on a PBS special “Articulate”. She appeared in a dynamic live film score showing of Joan of Arc with the composer George Sarah. Other major works include Bach’s Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Handel’s Messiah, and a performance of Haydn’s Harmonie Messe at Carnegie Hall.
Her passion for education has propelled Mary Jane to teach the very young to the very old in multiple settings for twenty-five years. She has taught private voice and piano, early childhood music, children’s and adult church music ensembles, musicals and workshops, secondary vocal music, and collegiate voice at the University of Memphis and Kirkwood College. She now teaches exclusively in her studio Knightingale Voice, where her students explore the power of the voice for personal developement and for professional pursuits. Her clients are regularly cast in roles, receive scholarships to music conservatories, and appear professionally. She is also an accomplished pianist who accompanies singers for concerts and recitals.
In the last few years, she began composing and just released her self-produced debut solo album Rising Free: a journey of healing. She has also written her first choral piece I Have a Voice, arranged for both SATB and SSA and begun work on a poetry book manuscript which delves into her journey of healing within and spirituality. She teaches exclusively in her studio Knightingale Voice in Iowa City where she offers voice sessions, classes, & voices of healing singing circles. Mary Jane’s deepest joys are her two delightful children and her husband Adam Knight.