Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mary Burke Barber, “reveals [her] powerfully rich voice of regal warmth and strength” (critic Patrick D. McCoy). She has performed internationally, having made her debut with the Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra in 2015. 

For the 2024/2025 season, Mary will join Florida Grand Opera as a Studio Artist. She will perform the roles of Die Zweite Dame in W. A. Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), Giannetta in Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore (The Elixir of Love), and Mercédès in Georges Bizet’s Carmen. At the start of the 2024 season, she returned to Sarasota Opera as a Studio Artist, covering the roles of Micaёla in Georges Bizet’s Carmen, and Vespina in Joseph Haydn’s L’infedeltà Delusa (Deceit Outwitted). Mary additionally competed as a finalist in the Opera Tampa D’Angelo Young Artist vocal competition in 2025, and as a semi-finalist in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition in 2024.