Her sound is fearless, magnetic and deeply human -

Maria Reich doesn't just play the violin, she reinvents it every time she touches the bow.

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Maria Reich is one of the most distinctive voices among a new generation of improvising violinists in Europe. Her artistic work merges virtuosic performance with compositional depth, interdisciplinary research, and international resonance. Heralded as one of the most groundbraking voices of her generation, her artistry blends virtuosity, compositional brilliance, and an ever-expanding creative universe.

 

Reich is not easily described with a single word. She is a violinist, composer, researcher, poet, and educator – and in all of her work, she is guided by an extraordinary sense of clarity, curiosity, and depth. Her artistic path began at the age of three with the violin, led her through early studies at the University of the Arts Berlin, an outstanding academic journey as top of her class in cultural and communication studies, and into a unique career that bridges contemporary music, improvisation, composition, and research.

What sets Maria Reich apart is not just excellence – it is the way she connects spaces: musical, intellectual, human. Having lived in Mexico, Peru, Italy, France, and Germany, she speaks five languages and moves fluidly between artistic worlds. Her work spans from string quartets to experimental formats, from poetic writing to interdisciplinary collaborations – always exploring the in-between, the intuitive, the transformative.

As a musician, her sound is both grounded and free – full of nuance, vulnerability, and presence. As a researcher, she poses questions that go beyond theory. As a teacher and mother, she brings these reflections into dialogue with life – with warmth, generosity, and rare sensitivity.

Maria Reich is not just a performer – she is a creator of spaces. Spaces where music doesn’t just sound, but resonates. Her work is never about display, but about encounter – with the world, with oneself, with others. In a time that often calls for quick answers, her artistic voice offers something quietly powerful: an invitation to listen more deeply, to think more widely, and to embrace complexity as a source of creation.

Her compositions have been commissioned by leading ensembles and festivals, including Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Ensemble Reflektor and Goethe-Institut in Mexico and beyond. Her works are published by Verlag Neue Musik Berlin and her solo album INTERDEPENDENZEN was released in 2024 by Relative Pitch Records in New York, while her innovative approach to sound has high recognition from critics and peers alike. She received numerous scholarships by the Berlin Senate, Studenstiftung des deutschen Volkes and Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now.

 

A published author and a passionate researcher, her work on improvisation in contemporary classical music has appeared in major academic journals like Routledge and transcript. Maria has taught musicians of all levels across Europe and Latin America, fostering the next generation of improvisers. She has published her poetry on her own under the title "Kompost".

She is currently developing Care Works – an audacious and deeply personal exploration of care, sound and human connection within our society.

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Voices

"Maria has an exceptionally beautiful sound on her instrument and an incredibly great sense of improvisation!"

- Cymin Samawatie, Trickster Orchestra

"She's not just a highly talented violinist, but also - as some of you surely know - a super-smart mind. I don't know many people whose knowledge about the essence of improvisation is so wide-ranging and close to life like Maria's."

- Louis Rastig , A L`ARME! Festival

"The sound of Maria Reich is seductively danced [...]. Wherever they are in their improvisations, what has just sounded echoes and the foreboding of what is about to sound is already apparent. [...] it is only a matter of time before festivals and concert halls will be licking their fingers at this ballet of the senses."

- jazzthing

"It is fascinating to feel how much Maria Reich feels and thinks through her instrument. The composed and improvised passages form a strong unity, and she has defined the exciting area between the styles with her music in a very unique and very listenable way."

- Sebastian Studnitzky, XJAZZ Festival

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References

Düsseldorf Festival, À L’ARME Festival, Cologne Jazz Week, UdK Berlin, Bundesjugendorchester, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Jazzdor, Gropius Bau Berlin, Berliner Festspiele, Jazzfest Berlin, Alte Oper Frankfurt, SONY, arte, Netflix, Universal Music, Beethovenfest Bonn, XJazz Berlin, Goethe-Institut Mexiko, Verlag Neue Musik, Ensemble Reflektor, 1:1 Concerts, PODIUM Festival Esslingen, Schlossfestspiele Potsdam, Neuköllner Oper, Trickster Orchestra, TONALI, Stegreif Orchester, Rotes Rathaus Berlin, JazzBaltica, Deutsche Welle, RBB Kultur, DLF, Bayrischer Rundfunk, tip Magazin, Tagesspiegel, and many more

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