Music
Maria’s musicality came as pleasant surprise to her family of professional athletes. From an early age there would be the constant humming of songs, which developed into singing in many international projects with the Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam.
For a decade her love for music reached new heights while practising both piano and singing. Eventually she continued in the piano department of the Conservatory of Amsterdam, under the tutelage of Frank van de Laar and Frank Peters. She obtained her bachelors degree in classical piano performance in 2021. Maria is also an avid pedagogue, with the ability to make anyone feel seen and heard.
The ‘projects’ portion of this page features a selection of her most recent collaborations.
Depends what I’m working on. I can be getting lost in getting the rythmicality of a Beethoven sonata and then proceed to really enjoy listening my way through Rachmaninov’s harmonies or solving the puzzles in Ligeti’s works. I fall more in love with the pieces I’m playing as I’m really getting to know them. But throughout my life I felt the French and Hungarian lyricisms were the closest to who I am as a person.
I might get frowned upon by my colleagues, but it took me a while to get interested in the lives of composers at all… To me their music was always at the forefront of my playing, even though the curriculum of my conservatory suggested otherwise. Maybe it’s an age-thing, but now I can’t imagine playing Schumann or Gershwin and not knowing about their mental troubles for example.
I was once invited by the Veerstichting foundation to play in a livestream broadcast on top of the 150 metres Amsterdam Tower. That was pretty memorable – to walk out in heels while praying my fear of heights wouldn’t get the best of me!
Another project that comes to mind is a crowdfunding concert a colleague of mine organised in aid of the Ukrainian refugees in 2021.
I also love recording, editing and publishing podcast episodes on my The Aware Musician Podcast, since I’ve learned to do everything myself. It’s now a real treat to invite other professionals to be guests on it and be able to share their knowledge. I’ve also been organising my years in Paris pretty much since 2017, and it feels really special to have people there now that I can rely on.
If you see anything that might be interesting to you or your project, please feel free to contact me through social media or by filling in the contact sheet
J. S. Bach: toccata in e minor BWV 914
Beethoven: sonata op. 26 no. 12 in A flat major
Schumann: Fantasiestücke op. 12 (I – IV)
Liszt: etudes Waldesrauschen, La Campanella
Chopin : etude op. 25 no 12, Rondo op. 1
Brahms : sonata op. 1
Ravel: Sonatine
Skrjabin: etudes op. 8 no. 5, op. 42 no. 4, op. 42 no. 7
Janacek: Dans les Brouillards
Rachmaninov: selection from 12 Romances op. 14: I wait for you, Spring Waters
Over the last ten years, Maria has been part of many memorable projects. Besides performing solo recitals and teaching all ages on a regular basis, her project catalog is widely varied: from illustrating children’s music theory methods to providing musical intermezzi for private events in national theatres.
