Mary Ellen Goree, principal second violin of the San Antonio Symphony, began playing the violin at age five in a Suzuki class. As a high school student, she studied with Helmut Braunlich, professor of violin at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She received the BM in violin performance and BA in mathematics from Oberlin College in 1982, where she studied violin with Stephen Clapp, piano with Sanford Margolis, and chamber music with Marilyn McDonald, Stephen Clapp, and Denes Koromzay. While at Oberlin, she was awarded the Louis and Annette Kaufman Prize in violin, and was elected to Pi Kappa Lambda. She continued her education at Indiana University as a student of Paul Biss, receiving the M.M. with distinction in violin performance in 1984.
Following a six-month appointment as associate concertmaster of the Yamagata Symphony in Japan, Ms. Goree accepted a position as co-concertmaster of the Shreveport Symphony in Louisiana and violinist in the symphony’s Premier Quartet. In 1988, she joined the San Antonio Symphony as a member of the second violin section, moving to the assistant principal second chair in 1989 and receiving her current appointment as principal second violin in 1991. Ms. Goree has also been the principal second violin of the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, which has a summer season in Boulder, since 1994. She teaches violin at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is sought after as a private teacher and clinician. Her solo playing has been described as “delicate, inspired work” in the Shreveport Times, and as “highly polished, confident solo work” in the San Antonio Express-News.
She is married to David Goree, a teacher in the SAISD, and they are the parents of three children.
