Shari Gleason-Mayrhofer earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Horn Performance and Music Theory from Oberlin College Conservatory, and a Master of Music degree in Applied Horn from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds a Master's degree in Theory from Georgia State University in Atlanta. Shari has participated in the Grand Teton Orchestral Seminar and studied at the Banff Centre in Canada. Her private teachers include Douglas Hill, Robert Fries, Kendall Betts. She also studied with William VerMeulen, David Wetherill, and Froydis Ree Wekre.

Shari is a member of the Mainstreet Brass, FYVE Woodwind Quintet, and the Pennsylvania Sinfonia. A busy freelance musician, she also has performed with The Bach Festival Orchestra, the Philadelphia Brass, the Southside Sinfonietta, the Monocacy Chamber Orchestra, and the Allentown Band. Shari also serves as the Executive Director of the Friends of Chamber Music of Reading, maintains a private horn studio, and is active as an accompanist.