Sound Alchemy
Music
Song is about personal resonance and collective connection. It is creativity, a vital flow with Nature in its divine and elemental powers; it is love and healing, or distance and dissonance, depending.
Mission
From the start my name held the key: "Maria" is made of two words, "mar" which is "sea" in Spanish, and "aria" which is vocal music, a long song, so a "sea song" of life. This merges everything I love about being on the earth plane: the ocean--powerful, rhythmic and life-sustaining; music--which is creative, bringing the body to life from particle to wave; and singing, which is the creative word that shapes reality depending on its feeling, sensations, cadence, and connection to experience.
Vision
Music is sound activation, cathartic release of heart blockages, emotional release that heals, one's own personal expression; it connects people and can harmonize many different voices, but overall I am most attuned to the frequencies of love, harmony, understanding, compassion, wisdom, and truth. From my early years when I'd invent spontaneous songs a cappella, hearing the words and music coming to me, and then my parents bought me a tape recorder upon which I'd record my singing, songs with my sister, songs I'd created, the voice of my brothers and parents, and songs from the radio. I'd also pluck new sounds from the guitar my parents bought me in Uruguay. Then singing in school choirs and learning the joys and intricacies of harmonies and singing collectively, and in high school bands, musicals and church youth groups singing at weddings, dances and benefits. Then at college in a girl band, and other cameos at college events and pub nights; then in university for my students, or at community concerts and cultural events; across the world in Brazil with such recognized artists as Kay Lyra, Philippe Baden Powell, Marcos Aristides (singing with them at Bartelie, writing songs with them, performing with Kay one Christmas in her show in Rio de Janeiro); or writing songs with my friends, Tony Hansen, a great and passionate pianist, and Salim Farah, a vibrant flamenco and Lebanese guitarist with whom we wrote "Preámbulo" and my song "Courage" and performed live; and currently with the virtuoso rock guitarist, music producer, videographer and songwriter Jamie Dowd of Toronto. These collaborations make life heaven on earth for me, and hopefully brings some of that to others and awakens something in you.