Maria Benson (she/her) began studying piano in the womb: Her mother would play Mozart and baby Maria would DANCE!
Educated in acting, voice and dance at The Children’s Theater in Minneapolis, Maria eventually used her piano skills as an accompanist for Ballet Arts, Minnesota Dance Theater, the University of Minnesota, and currently at TU Dance.
Maria has directed musicals at Marcy Open School with Project Success and Youth Performance Company, sung with the group American Standard Jazz, and has performed piano and vocals at many local venues, including the Nicollet Island Inn. She has also written original music and continues to use her ear and creativity in her teaching to this day. Her time as a student at Yale Cabaret Summer School, is another musical experience she treasures and it has added exponentially to her skills as a voice teacher and performer. Fun fact: Maria even did some stand-up comedy when she was in her 20s!
Her favorite artistic experience was raising her two boys; Rush, now a seasoned performer at the Ordway, Guthrie, Cowles Center, and Chanhassen Dinner Theater, and Nikko, a talented composer and writer who currently lives in New York City and is nearly ready for the premiere of his long-awaited project “Nikola” at the Arena Theater in Washington D.C. - and then on to Broadway!
Maria feels very fortunate to have had such wonderful artists as teachers and mentors in her life. Now, at every music lesson with her students, she delights in sharing that legacy.