Mary Halvorson

Mary Halvorson (born October 16, 1980) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and guitarist from Brookline, Massachusetts.

Among her many collaborations, she has: led a trio with John Hébert [de] and Ches Smith, and a quintet with the addition of Jon Irabagon and Jonathan Finlayson; recorded duo albums with violist Jessica Pavone; and recorded several albums with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Tomas Fujiwara [de] under the band name Thumbscrew.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019 Halvorson won Best Guitar in DownBeat's International Critics Poll. In 2019, she was awarded a MacArthur "Genius" Grant for music.

Halvorson is on faculty at the School of Jazz (The New School).

Halvorson began her musical education on violin but was enthralled with the idea of playing guitar after discovering Jimi Hendrix. She first picked up electric guitar at the age of 11 in seventh grade. Her first guitar teacher was Issi Rozen.

She initially enrolled in Wesleyan University to study biology, but dropped her prospective major after sitting in on one of saxophonist Anthony Braxton's music classes. She quickly connected with him and he heavily encouraged her to find her own expression on guitar.

Halvorson's 2008 recording Dragon's Head was as the leader of a trio containing bassist John Hébert and drummer Ches Smith. Her later album, Saturn Sings, added saxophonist Jon Irabagon and trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson. In 2012, she played with trumpeter Peter Evans and drummer Weasel Walter on the trio album Mechanical Malfunction.

In 2013, the trio of Halvorson, bassist Michael Formanek, and drummer Tomas Fujiwara [de] recorded the first of several albums as the band Thumbscrew. NPR called Halvorson's 2015 solo album Meltframe "category-exploding", and its 2015 Jazz Critics Poll named the record 7th-best of the year.