Mary Saunders Barton is a Penn State Professor Emerita, currently residing in New Jersey where she maintains a virtual voice studio for musical theatre performers and teachers in the US and abroad. She is also an adjunct voice professor in the musical theatre program at Montclair State University. Mary received a master’s degree in French language and literature from Middlebury College and the Sorbonne, Paris. While in Paris, she studied French art song with the great baritone Pierre Bernac. She is an unapologetic Francophile. Her own performing career spanned twenty years and included Broadway, off Broadway, regional, cabaret, film, and television credits.
While at Penn State, Mary served as head of voice instruction for the BFA in musical theatre. She also created an MFA in musical theatre voice pedagogy with colleague Norman Spivey to meet the growing demand for voice teachers who specialize in vernacular techniques. In this and recent seasons her students have been seen on Broadway in Wicked, Mamma Mia, Aladdin, Lion King, Pippin, The Book of Mormon, Newsies, Kinky Boots, Bandstand, A Bronx Tale, Beautiful, Beetlejuice, and Ain’t Too Proud, among others. Graduates of the MFA Program have gone on to teaching positions at universities in Massachusetts, Nevada, Virginia and the Netherlands, and are contributing to the profession in performance, writing, and research.