St. Cecilia Performers

Mary Jane Carlin

Music can be an influential and inspiring part of one’s life, as Mary Jane has experienced firsthand in her work with people on both ends of life’s spectrum. She earned her degree from Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio in Music and Visual Arts Education, and pursued private music studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She became a music and visual arts teacher for the Catholic diocese of Cleveland, and was named in “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” in 2005. But along with her work with young people, Mary Jane was also an “activities professional” in a nursing home, where she hoped to bring her love of music and the joy it can convey to those whose lives had become quite confined. For her, that vocation was close to home. “Giving nursing home residents, such as my mother, music in their final days enriched my life as well as theirs.” The healing power of music takes on a personal meaning for Mary Jane who acknowledges that “music has carried me through illnesses such as brain cancer.” Mary Jane is currently active with the St. Gregory the Great Church choir, the Cleveland Chamber Chorus, and continues to sing with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus where she has been a member for 25 years. She would like to dedicate her work on THE ANGELUS CD to her late parents, Vincent G. Carlin and Marie Cecilia McGuire.

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