Maria Ryan
Performer
Maria Ryan is a violinist from Pallasgreen County Limerick. She has recently finished her four-year BMus Degree under the guidance of Elizabeth Charleston and is currently in her first year of the Performance Masters. Maria began learning violin at the age of four in Limerick School of Music where she received a scholarship for achieving the highest grade in any instrument; she has had numerous teachers including Eileen Hutson and Simon Dalton. Her love of music doesn’t stop with classical; passions for many different styles of music including folk, jazz and bluegrass – to name but a few – have allowed her to travel the globe with a variety of musicians. Maria is currently the leader of the CSM Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Conor Palliser. She was recently awarded first place in the Senior Concerto Competition playing the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5. She was also one of three finalists in the Yamaha String Scholarship Competition which was held in Cork School of Music last month. Her love of traditional music is also very apparent – after finishing an album with her new band “Strung” they were awarded an invitation to play at the Michigan Irish Music Festival, which will be held in September. She is a member of award winning Choral group Voci Nuove who were chosen as Choir of the Year in 2015 and 2016, and when she is not performing on stage she is working on side projects in the recording studio. Maria makes all of this happen on a Jeremie LeGrand violin, which is on loan to her by the Cork School of Music.