If you are not very familiar with Mary Bundy’s artistry, you will be interested to know that she began piano lessons at the age of ten. Two and a half years later she passed, with First Class Honours, the Grade Ten Royal Conservatory of Toronto Piano exam, and by fourteen was winning concerto competitions for piano and orchestra. Victor Feldbrill, former conductor of the Toronto Symphony, wrote of her: “Outstanding talent. This young lady is destined for great things.” By her mid-teens, however, Mary knew she was losing the innocent joy of playing the piano. It was time to leave the world of musical rivalry and discover what she really wanted to do with her gift.
Her awakening came some years later when she returned to formal studies as a scholarship student at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Before long, Mary’s mentors began urging her to compete internationally. “Then, one night, I awoke before dawn with the absolute certainty that this was not my path. My real dream was to touch people’s hearts in a more gentle and peaceful way.” Since graduating with her A.R.C.T. (First Class Honours in Piano Performance) Mary has stayed true to her purpose --- nurturing pupils in her Toronto studio, performing locally as a soloist, accompanist and ensemble musician, and composing uplifting pieces for piano and strings.
"I want my music to be a source of peace, to help people remember the beauty and joy of life. Music is such a treasure, comforting and reminding us we are never alone. Whatever the genre, I play to bring peace and inspiration to others."
Mary's first two albums, Peace & Inspiration (solo piano, 2000) and Blessings of the Heart (piano and cello, 2002) received critical acclaim. "...What beautiful music." Mark Victor Hansen, co-creator, #1 New York Times Best-Selling Series, Chicken Soup For The Soul®. "A great album of exceptionally well played and masterfully composed music, effulgent with beauty and gentleness of spirit." Eye For The Future Magazine. "Peace & Inspiration is gorgeous ... beautiful melodic lines, so poetic! We have never heard a pianist play like this, so musically, from the heart...." Daniel Domb, master cellist, formerly Principal Cellist with the Cleveland Orchestra and soloist with many outstanding orchestras in North America and Europe. Daniel accompanies Mary in Blessings of the Heart with his wife, Carey, also an accomplished cellist, formerly with The Montevani Orchestra in the U.S. The selections include original compositions, plus original arrangements from pre-Bach to Mozart to Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Beatles and John Denver. Daniel said of Mary “Carey and I were in heaven during the entire recording… a great experience!!”
In 2003, Mary released A Gift of Love (piano, cello, vocal, 2003), an outpouring of tender and deeply moving music including classics, original compositions, traditionals and modern pop favourites. “There is a magical softness in the way Mary touches the piano; there is a spiritual softness in Mary’s musical discourse… deep and meaningful…” (Michel Laverdiere, artistic director at XXI-21 Productions Inc. and founder of the distinguished ATMA label). Mary is accompanied once again by cellists Daniel and Carey Domb and with vocalists: Michael Burgess, soloist with major orchestras here and abroad and well known in the theatre, TV and film; and Gisele Fredette, accomplished singer, composer, dancer and actor with a long list of international career credits. All four guests were impressed with Mary’s albums, her desire to create beautiful, uplifting music, and the fact that a portion of the proceeds of Mary’s albums go to international relief organizations.
Following A Gift of Love, two compilations of Mary’s music have also been released: Peace on Earth (2003) and Healing Prayer (2004). The selections chosen from her earlier albums are carefully woven together and are representative of the theme of each compilation. These two treasuries stand on their own as complete musical offerings.
Mary’s latest recording is Morning Star (solo piano, release date October, 2005). The theme of this album is that special, magical feeling of stillness and peace one has just before dawn when the morning star is still visible in the eastern sky, and the slumbering world has not yet awakened. Most of the pieces are original compositions by Mary and her husband, Bob Bundy. The rest are drawn from folk and traditional favourites and the old masters: Pachelbel, Handel, Mozart and Rachmaninoff. The old and the new are all woven together in a seamless flow to help the listener relax and be inspired. A lot of New Age-type music today tends to be spacey and almost numbing. By contrast, Mary’s offerings (in all her CD’s) have an aliveness and simplicity about them that makes one feel energized and connected to life, and yet drawn within, peaceful and quiet at the same time. Mary seeks, in Morning Star, especially to help people rediscover the joy of life and know that even in their darkest hour before the dawn, they are never alone. Morning Star complements all of Mary’s albums and brings its own special qualities to evoke joy and appreciation for life.
All of Mary’s CD’s are recorded at Glenn Gould Studio in the Toronto CBC Centre by Juno Award winner, engineer Ed Marshall. They have been played on National CBC radio (both English and French) and other stations, and highlighted in major Canadian music stores.
Mary’s music has been gathering attention not only for its beauty and tenderness, but also for its many therapeutic qualities to console and bring relaxation, especially for people going through illness and other difficult periods in their lives. In recognition of these qualities, in 2003, The Canadian Association for Music Therapy took on a large block of Mary’s CD’s to send to registered music therapists all across Canada for their work with patients in palliative care, hospices, geriatrics, children’s developmental programs, nursing homes and many other hospital settings. Here are a few of the heartfelt emails she has received from the therapists: (a) “Your CD’s are beautiful…it’s a pleasure to find CD’s that really are in the spirit of music therapy work. I find your playing sensitive, intuitive, aesthetic and creative, while being grounded and connected to who you are as a person.” (b) “I work in palliative care and special care…settings. I am appreciative of your talent and intent that is so apparent in the CD’s…thank you for providing us (as professionals as well as persons) with a powerful tool to use in our work.” (c) “…the Child Life Specialists I work with have been using you CD’s [with] patients and families with touching results…[For] a six year old girl…in hospital with…developmental delay, blindness and pain…the only thing that would help this child sleep was medication and your [piano] CD.” (d) “[your music] is beautiful…there is a pureness in the quality of the music…specifically beneficial to patients at the end of their lives.”
These descriptions from the music therapists are typical
of what so many others have said about Mary over the years.
Her music has universal appeal, transcending age, gender,
geographical and cultural boundaries. For many, it seems
that no matter what they hope to receive from the music,
they go away with what is needed at the time. And each
time what one takes away may be different from the last
time. Once again, perhaps Michel Laverdiere summarizes
best of all the essence of Mary’s music: “Mary
Bundy’s music touches the soul…the privileged
listener will receive this most precious gift as an offering
of love…the graceful musical kiss of eternal peace.”
The magic and beauty of the cello captured Daniel Domb's heart from a very young age. He began his cello studies in Israel at age eleven with the great cellist and teacher, Paul Tortelier. When Tortelier moved back to Paris, Daniel followed him for further studies. A few years later, just after his fifteenth birthday, he was chosen by Leonard Bernstein to perform in a world televised concert with the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall where he was introduced by Bernstein as a "phenomenal cellist - I could not believe my ears when I heard him play."
Carey Domb studied music at Rice University in Texas, receiving both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Her freelance work has included the Houston Pops Orchestra, Montevani Orchestra, CJRT Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonic and Canada Pops. While maintaining a class of private cello students of all ages, Carey has performed countless concerts in schools, prisons, hospitals, old age homes, and private homes as part of a cello duo with her husband, Daniel Domb. They are quite active in the schools, performing educational and entertaining programmes for children throughout Ontario.
Gisèle Fredette is well known for her musical versatility. She is an accomplished singer, composer, dancer and actor. Performances include concerts, operas, operettas and large corporate and special gala shows across Canada, the United States and Europe. She is equally at home on television, radio and film and in the theatre.
So many people admire Michael Burgess for his memorable
role as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, plus his Canadian
tour and concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England.
His many other theatre credits and awards across Canada
and the U.S. include: Narrator in Blood Brothers, Man of
La Mancha, performances off Broadway and with the Stratford
Festival, the Charlottetown Festival, the National Arts
Centre and the Citadel Theatre. On television he completed
a Showtime Movie of the Week (Sandy Bottom Orchestra, aired
Spring 2000 CBS) and starred in Friday the 13th, Top Cops,
Bordertown, PSI Factor, Earth Final Conflict, his own Gemini
Award Winning TV special, Michael Burgess at Massey Hall,
and Frankenstein... Do You Dream (a Bravo! Produced video
exerpt from the new stage musical), plus award winning feature
films, Entry in a Diary and the Original Sin.
