Mary Carroll Plaine, Principal Librarian

photo by Christian Colberg

Born in Baltimore, Mary Plaine spent the first seventeen years of her life in Bexley, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.  She returned to Baltimore to attend the Peabody Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Bassoon Performance.  From graduation until the fall of 1978, she worked for Peabody as its first full-time ensemble librarian.  In October of 1978, she joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as it's first full-time assistant to Music Administrator Ann Goldberg.  Ms. Plaine became the first Associate Librarian of the BSO in 1985 and was promoted to Principal Librarian in 1988.  She is a member of the Major Orchestra Librarians Association. 

As one of the two full-time orchestra librarians employed by the BSO, Ms. Plaine helps maintain the collection of scores and parts that the orchestra players use in rehearsals and concerts.  As a member of the BSO, she served in various positions on the BSO Player’s Committee between 1989 and 2006.  She is a Director-at-Large on the Board of Local 40-543, American Federation of Musicians.  Ms. Plaine represents the BSO musicians to the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM), and served as one of its Governing Board Members-at-Large for several years.  She is also the orchestra’s union steward.