ABOUT Maria Finkelmeier

SESSION TITLE: Multi-sensory Performance with Maria Finkelmeier

Named a “one-woman dynamo” by the Boston Globe, Maria is a percussionist, composer, new media artist, and professor. Whether it’s scoring conceptual art films or serving as director, composer, and performer in multi-sensory performances and public art installations, her work continually transcends both genre and medium. 

Empowered by sonic exploration and obsessed with making noise, she transformed Fenway Park into a percussive playground and turned the Roebling Bridge into a sound and light instrument. She illuminated an outdoor amphitheater as pandemic relief, used AI to investigate gender bias, flipped a bus into a mobile electronic bucket drumming program, and performed at iconic global venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian, and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She’s played with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Silkroad Ensemble, and Baltic Sea Philharmonic while her cutting-edge work has been featured in the Boston Globe, National Parks Magazine, Boston Magazine, Vulture, SunSentinel, I Care if you Listen and on WGBH, WBUR, and CBS.

Merging meticulous performance practice and production knowledge with intentions that are narrative driven and socially responsive, Maria has been commissioned by national organizations, municipalities, and festivals including the National Parks Service, Esplanade Association, Harvard Ed Portal, IGNITE Broward, TEDx Cambridge, BLINK Cincinnati, London’s i = u festival, ILLUMINUS, and the Boston Center for the Arts. Her care and dedication to her practice has been supported and acknowledged by the Boston Foundation, CODAWorx, Boston Design Week, New England Foundation for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Brother Thomas Fellowship, among others. 

An experienced entrepreneur, Maria has founded and directed numerous ventures, including her active experimental studio MF Dynamics, along with Kadence Arts, Make Music Boston, Quartet Kalos, Masary Studios, and Ensemble Evolution. Dedicated to shaping the next generation of creators and arts leaders, she is an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music specializing in Creative Entrepreneurship. Prior to rooting in New England, Maria spent three years in Northern Sweden at the Piteå Institution for Music and Media as an artist-in-residence. Maria received a Bachelor of Music degree from The Ohio State University and a Master of Music degree from Eastman School of Music. Maria is a Yamaha Performing Artist.