Contemporary classical pianist & composer
Contemporary classical pianist & composer
Born in Bulgaria, Maria Karakusheva quickly found her calling and began playing piano at the age of 5. Thanks to great perseverance and total dedication, she won the first prize at the International Competition for Young Pianists UFAM in France when she was only 9 years old. Her debut concerts followed only two years later, both in Bulgaria and in Greece. Her first solo concert was in Bulgaria Hall in 1997, when Maria was 12. The following year she was accepted with honors at the National Music School. She was educated in the tradition of Italian and Russian classical styles. At 16 Maria became a laureate at the International music festival in Bellaria, Italy, and the next year she won the first prize at the International Competition for Pianists “Claude Kahn” and “Montigny le Bretonneux” in France. She also had a concert in the famous Parisian Salle Gaveau. Maria’s music skills go all the way from baroque to contemporary classical but she loves to mix all kind of genres - classical music with house and jazz, classical adaptations of pop and rock songs and so on. Her first project, "Classic In The House", marked the beginning of a series of unusual combinations of classical and contemporary music. It was followed by “Classic In The Jazz” and "Grace on Air". You can learn more about the artist and her projects on www.karakusheva.com
