Mary Elizabeth Groupé 

I was born and brought up in Bennington, Vermont.  After a semester at a university, I transferred to Bennington College, where I majored in music performance, with a “minor” in history.  I graduated from Bennington in 1984.  After college, I moved to New York City, where I married my husband, David.  We moved to Southern Maryland in 2002.  We returned to Vermont five years ago.  I now play the viola in Sage City Symphony, of which I have been a member since the fall of 2017.  I used to play with Sage during high school and college, so it has been a curious kind of homecoming to return to the orchestra.  I am an avid gardener.  With David’s generous help, I completely rebuilt our property’s existing shade garden, with stone walls to support terraced planting areas.  We also added a garden to the property’s sunny front yard.  In addition to music and gardening, I research and write about antique dolls for publication with a national doll magazine.  I live with my husband and a very spoiled cat.