Atallah, Maria

Maria Atallah is a Lebanese Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a teacher, originally from Ottawa, Ontario. In 2015, she graduated from the University of Ottawa (B.A. in Music) under the instruction of John Armstrong and Frédéric Lacroix in composition and Andrew Tunis in piano. Maria was awarded a First Prize (Godfrey Ridout Awards) in the 2017 SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers for Hymn to Inana and reached the semifinals at the 2014 International Sorodha Composition Competition based in Antwerp, Belgium, for her Three Pieces for Unaccompanied Cello. Other awards include the University of Ottawa’s Jean-Marie Beaudet Scholarship for outstanding potential in composition and a City of Ottawa YCPP grant. During the summer of 2016, Maria participated in the Orford Academy’s Creation Workshop, where she had the privilege of studying with composers Ana Sokolovic and Jean Lesage and collaborating with the academy’s contemporary ensemble under the direction of conductor Véronique Lacroix. Maria is currently (2017) pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the Schulich School of Music with Jean Lesage. She was named Composer-in-Residence with the Schulich Singers, McGill’s premiere chamber choir directed by Jean-Sebastien Vallée. Maria’s research is inspired by the connection between ancient and contemporary music. Her thesis explores melodic and heterophonic writing articulated by electroacoustically inspired techniques. When she is not working on her music, Maria enjoys reading, training in the art of Muay Thai, and listening to hip-hop.