Maria Sumareva

Supports: Citizen's Climate Lobby (grassroots climate activism); International Rescue Committee (refugee advocacy)

Moldovan-born pianist Maria Sumareva has been heard as a soloist and collaborative artist in Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Germany, Hungary, and the United States. Her solo and chamber music repertory reflects her versatile musical interests spanning from Baroque to newly composed works. Maria has performed at international festivals including the Budapest Spring Festival in Hungary; Les Nuits Pianistiques de Moldavie - Mer Noire, and Days of New Music in Moldova; and the Northern Lights Music Festival, Festival Miami, and Festival Baltimore in the U.S.A. She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moldova, the National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, and Rowan University Orchestra, with conductors Jean-Bernard Pommier, Christoff Escher, Didier Talpain, Salvatore Scarpa, Valentin Doni, Mihail Secikin, and Oleg Palymsky. Her live performances have been broadcast on Moldovan, Romanian, and Hungarian radio and television stations.

Sumareva has been a prizewinner or finalist in numerous national and international competitions in Europe and the U.S.A., including Jeunesses Musicales, Remember Enescu, Pro Piano, and the American Prize. Winning the 2013 Graduate Presser Music Award at the University of Miami made possible her recording debut with “ The 35 Keyboard Sonatinas by J.A. Benda”  (the first recording of the complete set) released on Élan Recordings in 2015. 

An avid advocate for new music and living composers, Sumareva is the co-founder, former president, and current Chair of Board of Directors of Kaleidoscope MusArt, Inc. (Miami, FL) - a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting classical music as a relevant and evolving art form, through innovative concert programs and educational initiatives that explore links between new, rarely-heard, and well-known works while prominently featuring emerging artists and living composers. Her interest in new and lesser-known repertoire has led her to premiere works by Rodrigo Bussad, Lansing McLoskey, and Vladimir Beleaev, and program works by Ghenadie Ciobanu, Mei-Fang Lin, Joanna Bailie, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, John Cage, George Walker, and Galina Ustvolskaya. 

Sumareva holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Frost School of Music (University of Miami), as well as undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano performance from Rowan University and Indiana University - Bloomington. Her teachers and mentors include Lia Oxinoit, Irina Bivol, Anatol Lapikus, Veda Zuponcic, Menahem Pressler, Naoko Takao, and Santiago Rodriguez. She served on the piano faculty of Frost Preparatory Program at the University of Miami, and the piano faculty of Rowan University. Sumareva has given masterclasses and adjudicated auditions and competitions at various institutions and festivals across the U.S., including University of Miami, Rowan University, Festival Baltimore at UMBC, and Northern Lights Music Festival. Since January 2019, she resides and teaches in Chicago, IL. To learn more, visit at www.mariasumareva.com