My name is Maria Sanderson, and I am an 18-year-old British-Ukrainian multi-instrumentalist, specialising in jazz trumpet. I am honoured to have been accepted and given a merit-based full tuition scholarship at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, USA – the home of one of the first jazz programmes in the world - for undergraduate studies in Performance (Trumpet).

Due to the high costs of accommodation in addition to other costs of my move there from the UK (travel, health insurance and mandatory extra-curricular fees) and despite my family’s financial support, I need to raise substantial additional funds to enable me to take up this opportunity. I am also applying to music foundations for scholarships, however there are limited opportunities for international students. Please consider donating what you can towards this goal. If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing this page or/and share my music which can be found on my Instagram page @mariassanderson.

About me:

I started playing violin (age 6) and trumpet (age 8) and since the very beginning, music has been the absolute centre of my life. I was always inspired by what my parents - both of whom are music therapists - have modelled about the role of music as a source of service to those who need it most. Music for me is the way I express my humanity and can bring joy and beauty to communities around me.

I began my musical journey at Chetham’s School of Music studying classical violin, trumpet and voice, achieving grade 8 distinction in Violin aged 12, followed by a Distinction in ABRSM Diploma Trumpet. My journey into jazz developed during the improvisational classes at school and improvising with my parents. I noticed how jazz necessitates trust, collaboration and finding magic in imperfections - this led me to increasingly specialising in jazz in recent years through private study and attending jazz summer schools in London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Boston, all of which allowed me to collaborate with a variety of musicians and challenged me to grow beyond my comfort zone as a musician.

In addition, in the past two years, whilst completing my A levels (studying Music, Media and German), I have been playing regularly with professional bands in jazz clubs in Manchester, across Northwest England and during my school holidays, I have performed in professional bands in Berlin and Hungary. When not performing, I spend most of my evenings composing, recording, producing music at home, as well as collaborating online with the global music community. For me, making music is not about playing or learning one instrument – it is about finding and sharing my voice as a musician: I play trumpet, violin, piano, guitar, drums, and sing and create multi-layered compositions using Logic Pro. You can find examples of my work on my Instagram page @mariassanderson.

Last summer I was offered a full scholarship to study at the 5 Week Aspire Berklee Summer course in Boston, USA. My experience there confirmed that Berklee would be the best place for me to continue my education. The breadth of the Berklee education meets my interests and goals as a musician as it includes high quality performance, composition and music production, as well as embracing broad, wide-ranging styles including jazz, folk, funk, Latin, and many others.

Finally, becoming a high-quality jazz artist goes alongside my other deep passion – of helping to expand the ‘female narrative’ in jazz by being a role-model contributing to a greater diversity of voices within the jazz world. Berklee is a leader in this movement through the work of its ‘Jazz and Gender Justice Institute’, and I am inspired to be a contributing part of this.

Thank you for your help!