Maria grew up in Thurles County Tipperary where she began playing music at the age of three. She gave her first radio performance on Jane Carthy’s “Young Musicians “ programme aged four ! She was awarded a scholarship to The Royal Irish Academy of Music and made the weekly trip to Dublin every Saturday where she studied violin , piano , chamber music and musicianship . During her time at the Academy she won several awards including seven scholarships which enabled her to further her studies . She won many chamber music competitions and was leader of all the Academy orchestras .
She continued her studies at Trinity College Dublin where she was awarded a B.A. Mod . Since graduating she has gained experience in all areas of music ; classical , opera , traditional , musical theatre , rock/pop etc .
As a freelancer she has toured extensively throughout Ireland , Europe and U.S.A. with groups as diverse as ; The Irish Chamber Orchestra , Riverdance , Frances Black , Wexford Opera , Phil Coulter , Andrea Bochelli , Boyzone and Rod Stewart to name but a few…..
Maria performs regularly on tv and radio and is in great demand as a session violinist .
She is currently touring with Declan O Rourke with whom she was invited to perform at the Oscar Wilde party in Los Angeles as part of the Oscars awards ceremony in February of this year. She also showcased at SXSW in Austin Texas in March.
For the past three years she has been the special guest solo artist on tour with The Three Tenors.
Most recently, Maria was band leader for Michael Buble’s sell-out concert tour at the 3Arena Dublin.