School of Music
College of Performing and Visual Arts
Dr. Mary Kathryn Brewer teaches voice and related subjects as an Assistant Professor
of Music at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). She previously taught at the
University of Missouri, Anderson University, Taylor University, and Ball State University.
She earned a Doctor of Arts degree from Ball State University, a Master of Music degree
from Bowling Green State University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Anderson
University, all in voice performance. With a doctoral secondary emphasis in Speech-Language
Pathology (SLP), Dr. Brewer is passionate about vocal health, science, and pedagogy.
She has partnered with laryngologists and speech therapists to coach singers with
voice disorders back to healthy singing and has worked with SLPs on resources for
healthy voice use. As an active masterclass teacher, she has worked with singers of
various backgrounds and in various styles of music in masterclasses across the US
and Guam. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Brewer is an active lecturer and performer.
She has presented on Verdi’s art songs at universities and conferences in South Carolina,
Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, and Colorado. Dr. Brewer’s opera roles include
Felice in Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari’s School for Fathers, Greta Fiorentino in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, and Mrs. Ford in Otto Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor. She also premiered the roles of The Messenger in Rick Vale’s opera The Vagrant and Yasuko Shimazaki in Herman Whitfield III’s Midsummer. She has performed with the Indianapolis Opera, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Anderson
Symphony Orchestra, Muncie Masterworks Chorale, Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, and
Greeley Chamber Orchestra. She is an active soloist, lecturer, and recitalist across
the US and online.
Dr. Brewer’s books, The Art Songs of Giuseppe Verdi: A Catalog of Texts and a Musicological Analysis and A Performance Guide to Verdi’s Art Songs were published with Edwin Mellen Pressin 2019 and 2022. Dr. Brewer released her Lyric Diction Handbook online in 2022 through UNC’s Open Educational Resource Grant. It is available online
for free dissemination and use in instruction. In her spare time, she loves to travel,
read mysteries, and spend time with her husband, Erich and their dog, Moose.