“Music is the universal language that brings people together. I try to choose beautiful melodies with meaningful lyrics to tell a story. Music gently colours our world and surrounds our lives with beauty.” ~ Maria
Maria has always loved music. She began singing at the age of five. She sang in school choirs as a child and performed in high school choral bands as a teenager. Inspired by its beautiful sound, she studied piano, and after finishing her university degree, voice. Beginning with a classical teacher, she soon found that her passion was jazz. A new vocal coach, who saw talent and potential helped to inspire her. A dedicated learner, she continued to study jazz theory, vocal training and jazz piano through private lessons, university and master classes.
Encouraged by her father, Maria entered a beauty pageant in the early nineties, where she performed When I Fall In Love, with live musicians – a song made famous by Nat King Cole. From that moment on, she knew that singing and performing brought joy to her heart.
In 2000, she formed a pop duo where she played keyboards and sang lead and harmony. In addition to the duo, she performed as a solo jazz artist.
Maria launched into 2010 with performances at GE Plaza at Robson Square to celebrate the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. In the summer of 2010 and 2011, she and her trio performed at the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
Maria brings people together in a musical breeze of jazz standards, Brazilian bossas, sambas and classic pop. Inspired by Ella, Nancy Wilson, Dianne Reeves and Stevie Wonder, some of her favourite composers and lyricists include Rodgers and Hart, Gershwin, Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
When not performing, recording or rehearsing, Maria devotes her time at B.C. Children’s Hospital and at Jazz Verbatim, a jazz oral history project to preserve and provide access to a collection of 240 master tapes of interviews with jazz and blues greats.
Simplicity, expressed by surrendering to the music, can affect our lives in a profound way, she says. The ability to caress the lyrics and set an atmosphere for the song is important to me, and that is what I try to do. Some of the venues that Maria has performed at include Robson Square, The Plaza @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre, The University Golf Club, River Rock Casino Resort, BC Children’s Hospital, Hotel Vancouver and City Square.
With a smile in her voice … warm, alive and distinctive … her impeccable articulation and precise diction captivate and enchant audiences. Maria brings elegance, class and sparkle to the music. Like a painting, she colours each song with a personal touch to tell a story. As a vocalist, recording artist and bandleader, she performs with some of Vancouver’s finest musicians. Maria can swing a tune with brightness and positive energy to uplift people and put a smile on their face or caress a powerful ballad that can silence a room full of people.