Instrument: Flute

Mary Boodell is the Principal Flutist of the Richmond Symphony in Virginia. Praised as one of the city’s “most versatile and venturesome musicians,” she has won acclaim for numerous chamber music collaborations, orchestral solos, and concerto performances.

Both a specialist in historical flute performance and an advocate for contemporary music, Ms. Boodell has performed across the US and Europe, including at the Los Angeles Hollywood Bowl, Eastern Music Festival, Wolf Trap, Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, Institute for Sacred Music Yale University, and yearly at the Staunton Music Festival.

Before coming to the Richmond Symphony, she played Principal Flute with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Since 2004, she has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Central Va, an organization dedicated to bringing world class chamber music to Richmond.

Born in Chicago, Ms. Boodell received her Bachelor of Music at the Oberlin Conservatory and her Master of Music at Northwestern University, under the tutelage of Robert Willoughby and Walfrid Kujala respectively. A devoted teacher herself, she maintains a private studio, coaches youth symphony players, and performs regularly with the RSO in Richmond-area public schools. Her students have gone on to major conservatories and top orchestral jobs.