“Mary writes about the ordinary and turns it into the sacred. She reminds us who we truly are.”
Welcome
Mary Fineman writes and performs gorgeous music. An award winning singer/songwriter and composer, she’s also a classically trained pianist and orchestrator, who started to write music out of the blue in 2003. Her music weaves elements of popular music, musical theater, and art song with threads of gospel and jazz. Her songs speak about those things important to the human heart – relationship, love, and loss - often entwined with images of nature. From solo piano to songs to neoclassical chamber works, her music is unabashedly melodic, with a voice all its own, one that seems to speak intimately to each listener.
First Place in Music, Vinnie Ream Award (2025–26) and Biennial Competition (2026), National League of American Pen Women
New Arrival
Watercolor
Watercolor is my new album, a collection of 10 original solo piano pieces. The works range from meditative, to powerful, to lighthearted. Find the physical CD in my Store, and on all digital platforms (links below in the purple box).
Cover art by Montreal watercolor artist Elisabeth Galante. Recorded at OTR Studios, Belmont CA, on an 1885 Steinway.
Get the CDFeatured Video
Mary rehearsing with conductor Martha Stoddard and Community Women’s Orchestra for the March 3, 2024 Oakland performance of “It’s About Love”. 🌍 Watch concert on YouTube.
NEWS AND EVENTS
Announcements
MY NEW ALBUM Watercolor is now available as a physical CD here and for download and streaming: Blue Coast Music, Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music.
Nov. 11, 2026 (Veterans Day) 8 PM (doors 7:30): Join me along with pianists Molly Axtmann and Nina Postolovskaya for an evening of piano music, featuring new original works along with music by Bach and Chopin, at Strings, 6320 San Pablo Ave. (near Alcatraz) in Oakland. $25 donation, cash only. Cash bar. Concert details here.
Nov. 14, 2026 7:30 PM: Nonesuch Reed Quintet performs Songs from the Observatory, presented by Cascadia Composers at Leaven Community Center in Portland, Oregon. My new work “Songs for Evening” will be performed. With a reprise on Jan. 9, 2027 at 7:30 PM at Unity of the Valley in Eugene, Oregon.
More Videos
Listen
Find Mary on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Bandcamp, YouTube, Pandora, Bluecoastmusic, Amazon and Apple Music:
Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony
"The music and poetry of Mary Fineman pours from the heart, infused with invention and always in touch with humanity. These are today's sonnets for the soul."
Dan Reiter, Composer and Principal Cellist, Oakland Symphony.
"The evening's world premiere, 'It's About Love,' a song cycle by Oakland-based pianist and composer Mary Fineman and performed with the orchestra by vocal soloist Wesla Whitfield, signals an advent."
Lou Fancher, Contra Costa Times
"The history of commissions and world premieres by the symphony... includes a long roster of pieces by composers such as Jake Heggie, Mason Bates, Nolan Gasser and Rebeca Mauleon. February's [2014] concert will include the premiere of a song cycle by Mary Fineman, part of a continuing project to bring notable figures from the world of pop, jazz and musical theater - including Carlos Santana and Narada Michael Walden - into the orchestral sphere."
All artwork on this site by the artist Jeanette Fineman, my mother.