معرفی
Mary Gaines is an Instructor of Music (cello and guitar) and Co-Director of the Creative Strings Collective and Turtle Tunes at Beloit College. She is a multi-award-winning cellist, vocalist, and session musician with over three decades of experience in music instruction and performance. Her work spans diverse genres including jazz, folk, Americana, bluegrass, and classical music.
Education: Studied jazz guitar at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and cello at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under Parry Karp, with additional training in jazz improvisation and theory from Richard Davis and Joan Wildman.
Research interests focus on genre-bending musical collaboration, improvisation, and cross-disciplinary performance. Her ensembles, such as Graminy and Gaines & Wagoner, blend folk, jazz, blues, and Americana into innovative acoustic arrangements.
- Awards: Multiple WAMI Awards (2007–2023), Musicnotes Lifetime Achievement Award
- Performance Credits: Smashing Pumpkins, Freedy Johnston, Carrie Newcomer, and collaborations with artists like Willy Porter and Peter Mulvey
Labs/Teams: Leads Gaines & Wagoner (duo with husband Chris Wagoner), Creative Strings Collective, and Turtle Tunes. Known for high-energy, genre-defying live performances and educational outreach through Prairie Music & Arts.
