Dear friend 💜,

As I find myself hurtling closer to the sun on this crazy orb we call the Earth, I am filled with energy, excitement, anxiety, and fear all at once. How have you been? Have you been desperately trying to hold onto the reins as we gallop toward the longest day of the year? I sure have.

This year it feels fitting that on the summer solstice — the longest day of the year, the night Shakespeare immortalized in A Midsummer Night's Dream — I will be on stage reigning as the Queen of the Fairies.

Something magical has been happening in rehearsals. As I have been preparing for the role of Titania, I keep coming back to her great monologue — the one where she explains that because she and Oberon are fighting, their discord is causing the weather to turn sour, the fields to flood, disease to spread, and the seasons themselves to go haywire. Frosts in summer. Everything out of order. All because of their dissension.

What I love about these roles is that they are otherworldly, god-like in nature — and yet Titania and Oberon are deeply human. They quarrel. They love. They have affairs and grievances and complicated histories. They claim their divinity and their humanity at the same time. And through their discord — and their reconciliation — they have the power to affect the whole of the natural world around them.

I believe that is true for each of us. I truly believe that we each carry this divinity within us, and that from our own inner peace or inner war, we affect the world around us more than we know.

And in Shakespeare — as in life — the only true answer to that plight is love. Love is always the answer.

This month, the threads of love carried me through a very full and tender time.

I spent a big week with my dad, helping him pack up his house, sort through decades of memories, and move into an independent living cottage at a retirement center. It was hard and it was beautiful and it reminded me — with a force I wasn't quite prepared for — how much we need each other.

My dad really needed my help with this. And I think about so many older people facing that same enormous transition without someone to lean on, without a tender hand to help them figure out what stays and what goes. I was also reminded how genuinely difficult this digital age is for someone born during World War II. My dad spent multiple hours on help lines with Hulu because when he plugged his TV in at the new place, his streaming service showed his new IP address as being in Argentina. Hours on the phone. No real fix. Just the impossible, absurd complexity of a world that has changed so completely in one lifetime.

The love we carry for our parents — and for those older than us who are navigating all of this — matters so much. I hope you hold that love a little closer this month.

And then something else happened that I am still marveling at.

I reconnected with Melanie Long — an incredible opera and musical theater singer based in New York City — someone I studied with in college but had not spoken to in the decades since, watching her career unfold from afar with so much admiration. Melanie dove headfirst into her career while I always knew I wanted to be a mom and knew I couldn't let anyone else raise my babies. So after finishing my master's in voice, I dove wholeheartedly into motherhood, with the plan to focus on singing in my forties. Through the years I followed her journey on social media — and I will be honest, with more than a hint of jealousy.

And then something miraculous happened when I released my album. Melanie reached out and said: "Mary Jane, these songs are healing my soul. You are such an inspiration to me."

That blew my mind.

Last week we finally video chatted for two hours and the reconnection was so powerful and healing for both of us. There is something I cannot fully explain about reconnecting with someone who shares both your educational foundation and your deepest passion — the love of singing, the longing to share your voice with the world — and discovering that your different paths, your different dark nights of the soul, have each brought you to a place of hard-won wisdom and beauty. All fueled by the voice. We left that conversation feeling genuinely empowered by each other.

You should check out Melanie's gorgeous album An American Voice. It is stunning.

Underneath all of this — Shakespeare and my dad and Melanie and everything in between — is that same powerful thread.

Love.

As the longest day burns so brightly and the light lingers later and later into the evening, I hope you feel that flame in your own life. The one that illuminates the places in you that most need tenderness, care, and the most important love story of all — the one within yourself.

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I have some exciting news to share this month too.

I am releasing my first official new music since the album — my song Exhale of Peace is coming to every streaming service June 26th (6.26.26) and I could not be more excited to get it into your hands and your ears. It is all about this struggle — the struggle of working and fighting and striving so hard, when really all we need is to love what is already within us. Because all that we are is all that we need.

If you are on Spotify, I would so love for you to click the pre-save link below — it genuinely helps the algorithms and helps this music find the people who need it.

Pre-save Now💜

And if you have been on the fence about my poetry book The Light Between the Lines — it is now on Amazon with free shipping. Just in case you want to toss it in your cart:)

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Maybe what this season is calling you toward is something you truly love. Something that sets your heart on fire. Permission to be — as I always say with a little guilt and a lot of conviction — beautifully, lovingly selfish.

I grew up with a deep sense that selflessness was the highest virtue. And loving and supporting each other is SO important. But the fuel for that support for each other has to come from our deep love for ourselves. When we honor the divinity within us, we have the power to change the world around us. Just like Titania and Oberon.

Love is always the answer. And I am still learning to let that include myself, and I hope you can too.

With so much love and light,

💜Mary Jane🔥

P.S. This old millennial just entered the world of TikTok as a creator— if that is your jam, come find me! 🎶

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Iowa Local Opportunities!

June 12 – 28, 2026 at Lower City Park: Midsummer Nights Dream- Free Shakespeare in the Park​

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We had an amazing spring concert!!!! I am so proud of everyone and it was once again, a magical evening. Thank you also to those that came out to support everyone!!

A quick note for anyone thinking about voice lessons this summer — my June teaching calendar is set and has a few remaining spots, so if you would like to book sessions here is the LINK. I teach Tuesday through Thursday daytimes in June. I will be taking July off for family vacation and to rest and create, and will be back to my regular teaching schedule in August. If you are interested in reserving a dedicated weekly time, please reach out as soon as possible — those spots go quickly and I want to make sure you get the time that works best for you.

Also — stay tuned. I am working on some exciting updates to my offerings this summer, including new online or in person 1-on-1 vocal empowerment sessions, a twice-yearly vocal empowerment workshop, and possibly a new asynchronous feedback option for those who want quick, flexible support between sessions. I am also revisiting my scheduling and rescheduling policies this summer so that they work well for everyone and I am able to serve as many students as possible — more details coming soon.

And as always, please reach out with any questions!

💜Mj