Mary Lee Riley, studio piano and voice, earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees at Valparaiso University and took additional graduate study at Indiana University. She has been an active musician in a wide variety of performing and teaching capacities: she has held church organist positions for most of her adult life; plays the clarinet regularly in community bands in several northwest Indiana towns; regularly accompanies college and high school instrumentalists in contest and recital settings; and performs as soprano soloist in oratorio roles and other church and concert settings. She has served for twenty-five years as a professional chorister in the Chicago Symphony Chorus. She is an active leader in Sigma Alpha Iota, national professional music fraternity for women. At VU she continues to teach part-time while maintaining an active performing life in the community and managing her farm in Knox, Indiana.