Multi-instrumentalist Mary Vanhoozer grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she learned to play the Scottish fiddle and developed an enduring love of folk music. Traditional noëls from southern France played an equally formative role as they introduced her to the hurdy gurdy. Since acquiring her first gurdy, Mary has eagerly continued to research and perform a variety of repertoire on the instrument, from medieval dances to French baroque suites and sonatas. Mary plays hurdy gurdy and vielle with the critically acclaimed Ciaramella ensemble, and will join the Newberry Consort, a Chicago based early music ensemble, March 2026 for a program celebrating the musical, technical, and scientific inventions from the 15th-16th centuries. She has been featured in a live broadcast on southern California’s KUSC radio, and can be heard on the video game soundtrack Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The Siege of Paris, by Grammy winning composer Stephanie Economou. A passionate educator and hurdy gurdy advocate, Mary curates concert programs for educational institutions, which display a wide variety of repertoire and include slides and spoken introductions to musical selections. She serves as music faculty at Elmhurst University and received degrees in piano performance from Wheaton College Conservatory (B.M.), the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and the Cleveland Institute of Music (D.M.A).