Hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soprano Mary Burke Barber "reveals [her] powerfully rich voice of regal warmth and strength" (Patrick D. McCoy). She has performed internationally, having made her debut with the Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra in 2015.

For the Summer 2025 season, Mary will join New Jersey Lyric Opera as Musetta in their upcoming production of La Bohème. Come September 2025, she will return to Sarasota Opera to cover the role of Despina in Cosí Fan Tutte.

The 2024-2025 season brought Mary to Florida Grand Opera as a Studio Artist. She performed the roles of Die Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore, and Mercédès in Carmen.  She additionally performed as a finalist in the Opera Tampa D'angelo Young Artist Competition in January 2025. In early 2024, Mary returned to Sarasota Opera as a studio artist, covering the roles of Micaёla in Carmen, and Vespina in L’infedeltà delusa.

The Winter of 2023 brought Mary to her first season at Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist, singing in the choruses of Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Ernani, and Thérèse. She was awarded the Sarasota Opera Guild's Ann J. O'Donnell Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist. 

Mary began her musical studies at the Peabody Institute of Music in Baltimore, Maryland under the care of Phyllis Bryn-Julson. During her undergraduate studies, she completed a joint undergraduate degree with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, under the direction of Alan Bennett.  She completed her master's degree at Peabody under the tutelage of Denyce Graves-Montgomery and Margaret Baroody.