Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward

Troika is a recipient of a Chamber Music America Ensemble Forward Grant, made possible with generous support from the New York Community Trust.

Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward program is an initiative for young ensembles that perform Western European classical and contemporary chamber music and are based in the five boroughs of New York City. CMA will provide grant funds for the ensembles to work with established chamber music coaches to help them develop their distinctive ensemble sound; make information resources available for building their careers; and create networking opportunities to enlarge their professional circles.

Troika will be working with Coach, Maria Finkelmeier

About Maria

Named a “one-woman dynamo” by The Boston Globe and Boston’s Best 2018 “Creative Catalyst” by The Improper Bostonian, Maria Finkelmeier is a percussionist, composer, public artist, educator, and arts entrepreneur. Maria has created large-scale multimedia events in public spaces from Cincinnati to Northern Sweden, with several locations in Boston, including Fenway Park, Charlestown Navy Yard, Edison Power Plant, and Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. 

Empowered by and curious about the sonic world, Maria finds music, narrative, and collaboration in unexpected places. She’s created entire works from found, non-traditional sounds, and transformed iconic structures into percussive playgrounds. She’s been commissioned by the National Parks Service, BLINK Cincinnati, TEDx Cambridge, New Gallery Concert Series, i = u festival, the Illuminus Festival, Boston Center for the Arts, and the Outside the Box Festival. In 2018, she released her debut album “A Line that Terminates at the Present,” which according to I Care if Your Listen “skillfully weaves together her talent as an improviser with her technical prowess as a percussionist into a lively narrative.”

An experienced entrepreneur, Maria has founded and directed numerous ventures, including 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 Lecturer at Northeastern University’s Music Industry Leadership program and from 2012 – 2015 she 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 Yamaha Performing Artist, and additionally endorses Grover Pro Percussion, Vic Firth, and Remo.