Music has been a part of my life since early childhood, beginning as a singer in the Children Choir in St Eskils Church in Eskilstuna, followed by playing cello in the youth chamber orchestra Per Archi and continuing with being a member of the local semi professional Symphony Orchestra of Eskilstuna. But the real dedication for me to be a musician was arised during my 3 year at Nordiskt Musikkonservatorium, and followed by 4 years of full time studies in cello technique, chamber music and orchestra playing at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg. In my continuing private cello studies for professor Asger Lund Christiansen in Copenhagen and the English cellist Ralph Kirshbaum I definitely developed my knowledge even more.
I´m interested also in baroque music and baroque cello playing and have got education in baroque interpretation with a. o. the harpsichord player Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Dame Emma Kirkby and the English baroque ensemble the Parley of Instruments.
During 15 years as a freelance cellist I was engaged by leading professional orchestras in Scandinavia as the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, The Gothenburg Opera Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestras in Stockholm, Bergen and Oslo, the Värmland Opera, Norrlandsoperan, the Symphony Orchestras in Helsingborg, Norrköping, Malmö, Trondheim and Aalborg.
I have been engaged as an acting stage musician in productions at the Gothenburg Opera and the Regional Theater Blekinge-Kronoberg with more than 70 performances each. Besides being the “Soloist of the Month” in the Gothenburg Cathedral I have given an innumerable amount of chamber music concerts together with several musicians in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
I love to be a pedagogue and a tutor! After I fulfilled the Bachelor´s degree as pedagogue at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg I spent six years in the beautiful Norwegian county Sogn og Fjordane, and established a cello class in the Culture School of Sogn and was the artistic leader of the Sogn Chamber Orchestra. Together with my musician colleagues I played more than hundred of concerts for children, young and older people all around the county as well as chamber concerts and concerts in churches. Every year I played in the opera productions of Opera Nordfjord as well as was the solo cellist in the Symphony Orchestra of the County.
When I had moved back to Sweden I established the cello class in the first Swedish El Sistema project in Hammarkullen outside Gothenburg, where we mainly focused on learning the children orchestra- and ensemble playing.
I have been engaged as a tutor and director at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg for the master students concert projects for children, where I could give back som of my own experiences as a stage musician in performances for the often demanding audience of children.
Since many years I regularly am requested as a cello pedagogue by music and culture schools as well as private students. And when time gives I also work as a freelance musician.
During the last years I have deepened my knowledge about tutorial for music school teachers through studies at the University of Lund. I have also taken a basic course in music therapy at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm – a field that has been one of my interests for many years.
“She has a unique presence on stage”
– Smålands Folkblad
“You are an outstanding pedagogue”
– Albana, teenager pupil in the El Sistema, Hammarkullen
Contact:
e-mail: maria.lith@outlook.com
Telefon: +46 (0)707 59 29 30