Biography
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Born and raised in Goshen, Indiana, pianist Mary Rose (Jordan) Norell has developed a rich career in music. Her 2008 solo performances of Modest Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (accompanied by Chicago’s premiere puppet theatre group, Blair Thomas Productions) on the award-winning Millennium Park stage in the heart of downtown Chicago earned her the Chicago Tribune’s favorable review: “…Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, played live and beautifully by Mary Rose Jordan on a Steinway in the center of the stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, even as a puppet rabbit climbs on her piano stool.”
Appearing internationally as a soloist, Dr. Norell has given concerts at St. Anne's of Oxford University in England, the Institute for European Studies in Vienna, Austria, and LCC University in Klaipeda, Lithuania. In the USA, Mary Rose has been the featured performer in venues such as Ravinia's Bennett Gordon Hall, the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at the Chicago Public Library, and the University of Northwestern Summer Piano Institute, and the Music Archive of Sarasota (FL). As a concerto soloist, Mary Rose has soloed with ensembles such as the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Elkhart County Symphony, Maple City Community Orchestra, Northwestern University Summer Orchestra, and the Midwest Chamber Ensemble (KS City), where she premiered Joseph Kern's piano concerto transcription of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Musorgsky. Active as a chamber musician, Mary Rose has collaborated with musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Chorus, and the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and performs regularly with her husband Luke as the Norell Piano Duo. Most recently, the Norells performed Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the Maple City Community Orchestra in Sauder Concert Hall, and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite for two pianos at the Ruthmere home in Elkhart (IN). Other engagements have included performances at the University of Indianapolis, the University of Wisconsin, Ohio University, and the Roti Roti Art Center of Buchanan (MI). The Norells have been featured on Goshen College’s Rieth Chamber Series, with the American Liszt Society and had the honor of performing at Edvard Grieg’s home Troldhaugen on the composer's piano in Bergen, Norway. |
Among Mary Rose's awards are second prize at the Grieg Festival in Florida's Young Artist Competition and top prize in the Music Teacher's National Association competition for the state of Illinois. Mary Rose serves as secretary and co-founder of the Edvard Grieg Society of the Great Lakes a 501(c)3 organization dedicated to promoting the life and works of Edvard Grieg, which is holding its third conference and competition in May 2026.
An active teacher, Dr. Norell currently teaches private and group piano lessons, where she also serves as Private Lesson Director of the Goshen College Community School of the Arts and co-directs the Goshen College Piano and Strings Camp, going into its fifth year. Mary Rose has also spent time working as a Guest Artist for the Ravinia Festival’s Reach*Teach*Play program, where she developed numerous interactive lecture-performances to help make classical music come alive for children in inner-city Chicago schools. Mary Rose began her piano studies at the age of five with Marvin Blickenstaff. Under the tutelage of Emile Naoumoff, the last pupil of Nadia Boulanger, Mary Rose received her B.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University “With Distinction" with a French minor, and completed her Master of Music with an emphasis in German. She completed her doctorate in piano performance with James Giles at Northwestern University, graduating as a member of Pi Kappa Lambda. Mary Rose and her husband Luke enjoy making music at home with their three young children.  Drawn by Kyla Kethcart |
