Biography
Maria Leonardi is a vocalist that demonstrates versatility as an artist through her work in solo, chamber, and charity work. Maria’s mission as an artist is to share her love for music with the world in whatever way she can. While Maria doesn’t have a lot of Operatic stage experience, she is looking forward to her future in the performing arts as a young eager soprano.
In 2023 Maria had the opportunity to do an hour long solo recital performing works ranging from opera arias to musical theater scenes and songs. Maria was able to do a multifaceted performance due to the fact that prior to her undergrad she was cross-trained in musical theater and classical voice. This performance was one year after her first debut recital where she performed a half hour set of music from artists ranging from Debussy to Rorem. This was an opportunity in which she shared the stage with a fellow voice colleague. Last year, Maria had her first Operatic debut as Susanna from Le Nozze di Figaro In 2022 Maria debuted a world premiere solo from Melissa Dunphy’s choral work, “ When the Time Comes” in which the lyrics were the words Ruth Bader Ginsberg and a recording of said solo was gifted to her family shortly after her passing.
Throughout Maria’s entire musical journey she has always been a part of ensembles. In December of 2022, Maria had the opportunity to perform in a chamber setting with soprano Karen Slack, as a soloist in Margaret Bond’s “Song of Hope”, conducted by Dr. Steven Spinelli. Maria performed Hailstork’s Crispus Attucks at the Boston Symphony Orchestra with the Boston Conservatory chamber chorale in 2021. Maria has toured choral works of “classically American songs” with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra in Spain for three weeks in 2016.
Charity work has always been something that was important to Maria. Maria has had numerous friends that have struggled with childhood cancer and wanted to give back to the childhood cancer community as much as possible. In 2019 Maria was a co-chair in a charity music event in which all proceeds went to Cohen’s Children Hospital in support of cancer research. Not only was this charity important to Maria as an artist but as a person as a whole.
This was an important point in Maria’s career as an artist because this is where her interest in music production as a whole. This was a point in her career where she wanted to make a change from being the person who auditioned but, to be the person who was involved in the behind the scenes of auditions. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Music from the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins. While at the Peabody Institute she is studying vocal performance with an emphasis on Vocal Pedagogy with Ah Young Hong. She earned her Bachelors of Music, cum laude, from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she studied with Dr. Kerry Deal. Maria is from Long Island, New York where she often visits and spends quality time with her family and friends.
