Maria fell in love with all things percussion more than 10 years ago when she took Djembe lessons from Sean Dibble and found that - well - she could keep a beat.

Shortly thereafter on a de-stress trip to Esalen, serendipity (and Layne Redmond) put a frame drum in her hand and that started a long love affair with this instrument which, long before contemporary women’s movements, was an instrument of feminine power, ritual, trance and healing as far back as the ancient Mediterranean world. Following Layne’s amazing work and teachings, Maria has traveled and attended workshops from California to Crete. Additional percussion teachers include Andre Crosby, Zeva Zoroker and Corina Fitch.

Along the way, Maria also studied Middle Eastern dance with teachers such as Tamalyn Dallal, Bozenka and Maria Jamal, and danced in Jamal’s Noujoum dance troupe.

Maria plays Tar, Rik, Zills, Djun Djun, Bell and Djembe and is open to adding to that list. In her spare time, she has an ongoing Gig in the corporate world.