Margaret Maria
- Music Department
- Composer
Margaret Maria is a multi-faceted artist. In 2011, she resigned from her professional post as cellist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Canada to follow her dream of composing and producing her own music. Enchanten Productions proudly released Enchanten (2012) which received a 55th Grammy Entry Nomination, Enchanten Rising (2013), her web-collaborative album Piancelle (2013) also receiving a 56th Grammy Entry Nomination, with her 6'th album Enchantress released December 2014. Working in the contemporary Classical, New Age, Instrumental, Cinematic, and Steampunk genres, Margaret Maria creates stunning new music with her phenomenal cello playing at the heart of it all! Her 2 children's albums, A Cello for Chelsea (2005) and Zara the Maggini (2006) were her first creative musical stories that incorporate her narration, musical compositions, and arrangements, into delightful performances that sparks the imagination of children and adults alike. Margaret Maria is currently scoring music for film and is a member of the Screen Composers Guild of Canada. She has had her music performed at the National Arts Centre and you can hear her music on CBC Radio 2, CBC Galaxie Spa Channel, on Soundcloud, and is available for licensing in music publishing libraries in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Born in Toronto, Margaret Maria began playing the cello at the age of twelve and was admitted to the University of Toronto to study with Daniel Domb when she was sixteen. Margaret received her Bachelor of Music in Performance in 1992 and continued, on full scholarship at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with David Soyer. She was also the recipient of three consecutive Canada Council Grants for study abroad. Following her graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1994 with an Artist Diploma, she immediately won a position with the Vancouver Symphony, and was a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 1999-2011.
She is sought after as a first class chamber musician and has performed at many internationally prestigious Chamber Festivals in North America and Europe, including: the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Le Domaine Forget in Quebec, the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Ottawa's newest Music and Beyond Festival, the Lanaudiere Festival, and the McGill Chamber Orchestra series.
Margaret Maria is passionate about teaching and has given master classes in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. She has taught at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, the National Arts Center's Summer Music Institute and at the National Capital Suzuki School of Music.
Margaret Maria co-founded The Leading Note Foundation's OrKidstra Youth Music Program in Ottawa (an El Sistema inspired program) in 2007 along with two of her musical colleagues, Tina Fedeski and Gary MacMillen, to bring musical opportunities to children who would otherwise be unable to participate. It has grown from 27 children to over 300 children singing and playing music together, with 94% learning at no cost, from professional teachers and on donated instruments.
"The heart of The Leading Note Foundation's work in Ottawa is to share the passion of music with children, and in the process, create a transformation, not only in the children, but in their families, their community, and ultimately in a betterment of our collective future society." Margaret Maria- OrKidstra Artistic Director Emeritus
In 2012, Margaret Maria is a recipient of the Leading Women Building Communities Award by the Government of Ontario for her work in the Ottawa community, is an Honorary Board Member of the OrKidstra's Leading Note Foundation and is also recognized as a Kick Ass Canadian.
Born in Toronto, Margaret Maria began playing the cello at the age of twelve and was admitted to the University of Toronto to study with Daniel Domb when she was sixteen. Margaret received her Bachelor of Music in Performance in 1992 and continued, on full scholarship at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia where she studied with David Soyer. She was also the recipient of three consecutive Canada Council Grants for study abroad. Following her graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1994 with an Artist Diploma, she immediately won a position with the Vancouver Symphony, and was a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra from 1999-2011.
She is sought after as a first class chamber musician and has performed at many internationally prestigious Chamber Festivals in North America and Europe, including: the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Le Domaine Forget in Quebec, the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound, Ontario, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Ottawa's newest Music and Beyond Festival, the Lanaudiere Festival, and the McGill Chamber Orchestra series.
Margaret Maria is passionate about teaching and has given master classes in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. She has taught at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University, the National Arts Center's Summer Music Institute and at the National Capital Suzuki School of Music.
Margaret Maria co-founded The Leading Note Foundation's OrKidstra Youth Music Program in Ottawa (an El Sistema inspired program) in 2007 along with two of her musical colleagues, Tina Fedeski and Gary MacMillen, to bring musical opportunities to children who would otherwise be unable to participate. It has grown from 27 children to over 300 children singing and playing music together, with 94% learning at no cost, from professional teachers and on donated instruments.
"The heart of The Leading Note Foundation's work in Ottawa is to share the passion of music with children, and in the process, create a transformation, not only in the children, but in their families, their community, and ultimately in a betterment of our collective future society." Margaret Maria- OrKidstra Artistic Director Emeritus
In 2012, Margaret Maria is a recipient of the Leading Women Building Communities Award by the Government of Ontario for her work in the Ottawa community, is an Honorary Board Member of the OrKidstra's Leading Note Foundation and is also recognized as a Kick Ass Canadian.
