American pianist Dr. Mary Silva holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri- Kansas City Conservatory, where she studied under renowned pianist Sean Chen and held a graduate assistantship in collaborative piano. Dr. Silva’s recent achievements as a soloist include 1st prize at theJefferson City Symphony Orchestra Piano Concerto Competition, which led to a performance of Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto, as well as Winner of UMKC’s Concerto-Aria Competition, following which she performed the first movement of Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. Dr. Silva has been honored to perform in many prestigious venues throughout the United States and abroad, such as the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, the Folly Theater, the Holland Performing Arts Center, and various venues throughout Lucca and Todi, Italy. Her primary teachers include Sean Chen, Karen Savage, Deborah Moriarty, and Tian Tian, and she has been honored to perform in masterclasses for Logan Skelton, Robert Shannon, Valentina Igoshina, Thomas Schumacher, Margo Garrett, Steve Laitz, Edward Parmentier, and others.

Passionate about collaborative playing, Dr. Silva was awarded the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Superior Graduate Assistant Award for her work in collaborative piano at UMKC in 2023. Dr. Silva is comfortable in a variety of roles at the keyboard, from instrumental and vocal accompanying, to large ensemble playing including choir, orchestra, opera, and musicals. Particularly active in the opera world, Dr. Silva has been rehearsal pianist for Opera Lucca’s production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, UMKC productions of Massenet’s Cherubín and Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, as well as Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte with the University of Central Missouri. Dr. Silva has performed as keyboardist in chamber groups and orchestras throughout the Midwest, such as newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, Camerata Michigan Chamber Ensemble, the Omaha Symphony, and the Topeka Symphony. She also regularly performs with her husband, tenor Angelo Silva, around Houston and Kansas City.

Dr. Silva’s interest in the field of music theory has led to conference presentations at the South-Central Society for Music Theory and the Indiana University Graduate Symposium, on the topics of hypermeter in J.S. Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier and narrative analysis in Chopin’s Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49. Additionally, her work as a teaching assistant in music theory led to a nomination for Michigan State University’s Graduate Level Excellence in Teaching Citation in 2017. Often dabbling in composing and arranging as well, Dr. Silva is currently working on a pedagogical project to arrange classic Chinese folk songs for beginner and intermediate piano with colleague Shenwei Geng. In the future she hopes to publish this collection, in order to fill a gap in existing repertoire for young pianists. Many of her recent performances, arrangements, and improvisations can be found at YouTube.com/@marygossell.

Besides her D.M.A. degree, Dr. Silva also holds master’s degrees in piano performance and music theory from Michigan State University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in piano performance and a minor in mathematics from the University of Central Missouri. When not at the piano, Dr. Silva can be found trying out new recipes or grabbing coffee with friends.