Soon Mary Ellen’s innate teaching ability came to the fore as she started teaching classes and putting her knowledge of Middle Eastern percussion into written form. In 1976 she self-published Doumbec Delight and Mastering Finger Cymbals, both firsts in their field, followed by Arabic Tambourine in 1985. Mary Ellen produced companion tapes for these books as she realized that students would learn more easily if they could hear her play the examples in the books a number of times. In the late ‘90s she expanded her educational and artistic materials with two series: Middle Eastern Rhythms -Beginner Vol. I & II & Advanced Vol. I & II- (four recordings with booklets containing musical notation), and Gems of the Middle East ( Volume 1, Volume 2 & Volume 3 - three volumes of recordings and books).
Mary Ellen has taught workshops and performed with Middle Eastern bands in most of the major cities throughout the US. For over twenty-five years she has maintained a large student body in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mary Ellen takes her fiery percussion performances into elementary schools under the auspices of Young Audiences of the Bay Area, and some years ago with Adventures in Music with the San Francisco Symphony. She brings her lecture demonstrations to colleges as well. Mary Ellen is acclaimed not only as author, instructor, and performer, but also as a producer of major Middle Eastern music and dance events over the past twenty-five years.
Mary Ellen Donald’s musical accomplishments are noteworthy and even more so because she is blind. She plays her drums and lives her life with joy in her heart. She is blessed with a large community of students and friends who love her. Her latest musical passion is that of jazz singing.
Note: For more details about Mary Ellen’s life, see her twenty-five page autobiography included in Volume One of Gems of the Middle East.