McCAULEY, MARY ANN CLOW (b. 1960)

Mary Ann Clow McCauley (b. August 15, 1960 in Quincy, Illinois) is an active pianist, organist, clarinetist and pastoral musician. She received her early music training from the Quincy Public School system and private piano/organ teacher W. Kirby Eber. In 1978, as a high school senior and clarinetist, she was one of two winners of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra Young Artists solo competition. In the fall of 1978 she began her studies toward a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education at Quincy College where she studied clarinet with Louis Margaglione and piano with Leonora Suppan Gehrich. At the college she performed with the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Concert and Chamber choirs.

 

After graduation, she taught general music in the Catholic school system of Quincy and served as a local pastoral musician for a few years before leaving to pursue an M.A. Degree in Organ Performance at Western Illinois University where she studied organ with Dr. Anita Eggert-Werling. Upon completion of the degree at Western in 1989, she began her career as a professional pastoral musician. At that time, Mary Ann also entered the Rensselaer Summer Program in Church Music and Liturgy at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, in order to obtain a "Diploma in Pastoral Liturgy" which was completed in the summer of 1992. Mary Ann completed a Master of Music Education degree in Choral and General music at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois in July of 2007.

 

Her career as a pastoral musician spans over twenty-five years serving parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. Most notably, she spent fourteen years as the Director of Music and Music Educator for the parish community of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford, Illinois. While there, she was awarded the “Bishop O’Neill Award in Catechetics” for her service as an educator. She left the Cathedral in 2008 and went on to serve in several other locations including three years at the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier in Dyersville, Iowa. As of 2016, Mary Ann serves as the Director of Music and Liturgy at The Church of the Nativity in Dubuque. She also continues to perform with a number of local groups as a clarinetist.