Maria Finkelmeier

 Founder

Named a “one-woman dynamo” by the Boston Globe, and Boston’s Best 2018 "Creative Catalyst” by the Improper Bostonian, Maria is a percussionist, composer, educator, and public artist. Whether it’s scoring conceptual art films, creating dance beats out of sourced audio samples from everyday urban life, to serving as both director and performer in multi-sensory productions, her work continually transcends both genre and medium.

Empowered by sonic exploration, Maria has created and directed large-scale multimedia events and installations in public spaces from Cincinnati to Northern Sweden, with several locations in Greater Boston, including Fenway Park, DCR’s Hatch Shell, Charlestown Navy Yard, Edison Power Plant, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, the Goethe Institute, and Frost Ice Bar. She’s composed evening length immersive performance works, created entire projects from found, non-traditional sounds, and transformed iconic structures into percussive playgrounds. She’s been commissioned by the National Parks Service, BLINK Cincinnati, the Esplanade Association, Harvard Ed Portal, TEDx Cambridge, London’s i = u festival, New Gallery Concert Series, the Illuminus Festival, Boston Center for the Arts, and more. 

Finkelmeier’s cutting-edge work has been featured in the Boston Globe, National Parks Magazine, Boston Magazine, Vulture, and on WGBH, WBUR, CBS Boston, and Cincinnati Public Radio. It 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, and the Brother Thomas Fellowship.

An experienced entrepreneur, Maria has founded and directed numerous ventures, including the experimental studio MF Dynamics, Kadence Arts, Make Music Boston, Quartet Kalos, Masary Studios, and Ensemble Evolution. Dedicated to shaping the next generation of creators and arts administrators, she is an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music and from 2012 - 2015 served as the program manager of the Entrepreneurial Musicianship Department at New England Conservatory. 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, where she was granted a Performer’s Certificate in recognition of her artistic achievements and Arts Leadership Certificate. Maria is a Yamaha Performing Artist.