Maia Schmidt
Violinist Maia Schmidt is a well-rounded musician in the performing and teaching contexts. A passionate violin teacher, she approaches teaching holistically, with an emphasis not only on the technical but also the well-being of the student outside of music. Maia believes that giving clear expectations of excellence with a gentle and loving approach is vital in creating balanced students through music.
Since 2018, Maia has served as a faculty member of the prestigious Elizabeth Faidley Violin Studio in New York City and works closely with Ms. Faidley as her pedagogical protege. Maia’s love for teaching began in 2013 when she taught violin at the Paterson Music Project, an El-Sistema inspired program in Paterson, NJ. Her passion for teaching led to her completion of Suzuki Book 1 and Book 2 training with Carrie Reuning-Hummel and Teri Einfeldt. Maia is an active Faculty member for the Elite Academy for Strings in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, and BridgeMusik, a non-profit music festival and academy in the lower Hudson Valley of NYC.
Maia has had extensive solo performance experiences at numerous venues in New York City, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Lincoln Center, as well as performances at St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Salzburg Cathedral, and the famed Esterhazy Castle’s Haydnsaal. Maia gave her orchestral debut at the age of 13 with the Manhattan String Orchestra and recently performed with the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra. In 2016, she gave her New York City solo recital debut as part of the 92Y Young Concert Artists Series. She has also worked with artists such as Nathan Cole, Ray Chen, David Kim, Ani Kavafian, Kurt Nikkanen, Stefan Jackiw, Eric Wyrick, the Jupiter String Quartet, among others. As a chamber musician, Maia has worked with members of the Arianna, Brooklyn Rider, Orion, Jupiter, and American String Quartets.
Maia graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a BM studying with Peter Winograd. Maia is a candidate for the Master’s of Music degree, studying violin performance with Qing Li and violin pedagogy with Rebecca Henry, at the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University.
In her free time, Maia enjoys traveling, reading, and petting dogs
Testimonials
She is more than just a violin teacher — she has been a great inspiration to our daughter. Our daughter is committed to her violin learning and follows every instruction to the tee.
- Sudha, mother of Aanya, 8
Maia connects with each of my children differently and knows how to motivate, inspire, and, amazingly, spark joy at every lesson for each of them. She knows each of them almost better than I and truly cares about how she architects their individual learning experiences.
- Lisa, mother of Marina (16), Elliot (12), & Theo (6)
