Music
United dance x nationale opera en ballet
The mission of United Dance is to introduce adolescents and young adults with the Down syndrome to dance as a form of self-expression. In 2023 they're celebrating their five-year anniversary. During a course week, the participants take ballet classes and workshops, and create three choreographies together with director and founder of United Dance Boris Richir. Maria accompanied all the dance lessons in Amsterdam.
All United Dance courses are located in state-of-the-art studios part of city landmarks or prestigious cultural organizations including the Paris Opera Ballet School, New York City Center, and the Dutch National Opera.
VEERSTICHTING FOUNDATION 'blind trust' SYMPOSIUM
The symposium of the Veerstichting Foundation is a yearly event created by students and seasoned professionals. They come together to discuss societal topics like polarisation, sexism and online privacy, meanwhile closing the generational gap. Since COVID-19 still raged in full force at the time, the symposium was streamed from the 80m rooftop of the Amsterdam Tower in 45 cities in the Netherlands by hundreds of participants. Maria took part in this event by means of a musical intermezzo and played a program consisting of works by Prokofiev, Schubert and Debussy.
Illustrations
Ever since 2010 Maria has been collaborating with her former choir, Nieuw Vocaal Amsterdam, in illustrating a five-part music theory and solfège method. While the students try their hand at grasping the many concepts, a humorous nightingale keeps them company. The ‘Nachtegaal’ method is a part of the standard curriculum of many choirs in the Netherlands.
Composers Frieda Gustavs and Romàn Santos Mateos have collaborated on original compositions for the newest part of the series. Available September 2023.
Opening ceremony children's music week - muziekgebouw aan 't ij 2022
The Nationale Kindermuziekweek is a yearly Dutch tradition of letting children experience live music performances. Maria performed 'One Small Voice' by Jeff Moss (arranged by Roger Emerson) as part of an ensemble consisting of instrumentalists and singers of the Muziekschool Waterland. Hosted by Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ.
Choir and Orchestra Sorbonne Université Paris 2022 - 2023
Twice a year all the musical entities of the Sorbonne Université in Paris come together to stage two performances. During her year at this university studying musicology in 2022, Maria had the opportunity to sing in two productions as a part of the faculty choir. In may 2023 they performed a selection of infamous Verdi choir passages - ‘Verdi : transitions et mutations’. In 2022 Vaughan Williams’ ‘Sea Symphony’ filled the ancient amphitheatre of the Sorbonne Panthéon. Feel free to listen to the full concert below.
