Born in Canada and raised in Chicago, Maria has been passionately playing piano and violin since the ages of four and eight. She majored in both instruments during her undergraduate studies at the Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, earning a BM in Piano Performance and BM in Pedagogy (violin emphasis) in 2018. Maria continued her piano studies at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. She completed her MM in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Menahem Pressler and Karen Shaw, and she also earned a PD in Collaborative Piano, studying with Chih-yi Chen.