Bio

Mary Halvorson was born in 1980 in Brookline, Massachusetts. She began playing music first on the violin, and then switched to the guitar at age 11. She was going to attend Wesleyan University for Biology, but switched her focus to Music after sitting in on a class of Anthony Braxton’s. She released her first album, called Dragon’s Head in 2008. It is a trio record consisting of John Hébert on bass, and Ches Smith on Drums. This was followed by a number of releases with her next group, Thumbscrew. Mary Halvorson’s style on the guitar is, by definition, genre-defying. She has often referred to the guitar as a ‘neutral vessel’, which almost perfectly encapsulates her way of expression on the instrument. She reserves the right to express anything on the guitar, from rock to jazz and noise music, to folk and classical. Mary Halvorson’s guitar vision is as all-encompassing as one can get. She also won Best Guitarist in Downbeat from 2017-2019. In 2018 she was awarded a Macarthur Genius Grant.  A shortlist of her frequent collaborators are, Ambrose Akinmusire, Peter Evans, Tomas Fujiwara, John Dietrich, and Anthony Braxton.