Mary Brook Hartmann

Mary Brook Hartmann, 14, has been playing cello since the age of 8. She studies with Wendy Smith-Butler, Max Geissler, and collaborative pianist Charlie Tauber. She won First Prize at the 2020 International Music Competition “Grand Prize Virtuoso” in Bonn, Germany, and has won prizes at the Immanuel and Helen P. Olshan Foundation Concerto Competition, the Houston Civic Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition, and Texas MTNA. She has attended the International Cello Institute, the Eastman Cello Institute, Vivace Cello Festival, and Orford Music Academy. Mary Brook is returning for her 3rd season with Virtuosi of Houston, currently as principal cello. She plays in the Houston Youth Symphony’s top orchestra and earned a spot in the 2020 Texas All-State Orchestra. She studies music theory and composition with composer Grace Ann Lee in the Michael P. Hammond Preparatory Program at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. She is a freshman at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas, under the music direction of Dr. Bradley Smith.