Mary comes from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where there are many people of Eastern European heritage (and many accordion players). For the record, she likes both beer and brats (her own ethnic background is mainly German & Polish). Mary started taking accordion lessons when she was 10 years old and continued until she left to go to college in Milwaukee. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for undergraduate studies and the Medical College of Wisconsin (formerly the Marquette Medical School) where she earned her MD. From there, she went to Evanston, IL (Evanston Hospital, an affiliate of Northwestern University) for an internship and Cleveland, OH (Case Western Reserve University) for residency and fellowship. Dr. Berg's first real job was in Denver (Denver Health Medical Center, with an academic appointment at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center). After five years there, she accepted the position at UMC as Director of Transfusion Medicine & Assistant Professor of Pathology.
Through all of these medical studies, she only played the accordion for herself or her family. In her own words: "Yes, it's true, prior to joining the Accordion Club of Tucson, I had NEVER played in public. The only other music-related thing that I do is singing in my church choir." No one in the club believes this, however. Mary Berg is a welcome addition to the Accordion Club of Tucson with her positive attitude, fun-loving approach to music, her musicianship and contagious enthusiasm.
