PHOTO BY PATRICIA PASCAL
MARIA GRAPSA BIO
Athens born-London based Maria Grapsa leads a sextet of young exciting players from the thriving UK scene. Her music is influenced by cinematic themes; pushing the limits of improvisation within the jazz idiom and beyond.
Maria’s classical music background, Greek origins and folk, middle-East, Latin influences, all meet the jazz tradition in a unique way. A Help-Musicians-supported artist, she is already making an impact through her latest debut single ‘Life’ and is about to release her much anticipated album in autumn 2023.
In 2019 Maria created the ongoing project ‘Dialogue in’, a series of live studio recordings which include improvisation, spontaneity and musical dialogues. With this cross-disciplinary project, she is showcasing the enjoyable part of improvisation in music. She intends to continue releasing these series collaborating with more artists.
Maria is a Scholarship Jazz Masters alumna (2022) of Royal Conservatoire of Birmingham and a recipient of the Help Musicians Transmission Fund 2021 and Help Musicians Record & Release Music Award 2023.
Her past and present mentors are: Liam Noble, Ross Stanley, Ed Puddick, Mike Williams, John O’ Gallagher, Percy Pursglove, Tim Berne, Gary Crosby, Peter Edwards, George Kontrafouris, Cecilia Stalin and Sara Colman. She has been participating in workshops of Tomorrow’s Warriors, Barry Harris and Grand Union Youth Orchestra.
Maria was clearly won over by her love for music over the past years but her academic journey also includes an Environmental Engineering masters degree.
Alongside a vibrant career as pianist and bandleader, Maria has been successfully teaching piano and improvisation to young people since 2016, offering music lessons and workshops.
ORIGINAL MUSIC
