BIOGRAPHY

Maria Alejandra Quintanilla is a TRANSdisciplinary Auteur, Co-Director, and Recording Artist at W&J Productions in NEW YORK CITY.

Peruvian-born and Los Angeles-raised, her insatiable curiosity has enabled her to produce work in a broad spectrum of styles and settings that stem from spontaneity and experimentation.

Ms. Quintanilla has released two albums as a co-leader with a primary focus on improvisation. Distance Chemistry (2016) is a live recording built upon improvised arrangements of timeless standards and several spontaneous compositions. Breathing Taiwan (2017) is a blend of through composed and spontaneous compositions that tell mythical stories of Taiwanese tribes and hidden traditions. 

Maria has had the privilege of headlining on prominent stages such as the Kinshasa International Jazz Festival in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the International Portuguese Festival in Montreal, Canada, NAMM Conference in Anaheim, California, and Summerstage in New York’s Central Park, to name a few. 

She has also participated in various transdisciplinary projects such as Vozes na Névoa (documentary soundtrack), at a volume only you can hear (poetry research and recording), and Portugal: Sonic Paths and Possibilities (commissioned concert presentation by Instituto Camões and the Portuguese Embassy in the United States). Her original composition “Shade of White” was selected out of 26,000 entries as a 2020 semi-finalist in the International Songwriting Competition. 

Maria is currently a Doctorate of Musical Arts candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Miami. She is also a Henry Mancini Fellow at the Henry Mancini Institute, directed by Grammy-Award-winning composer Maria Schneider. Maria holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the State University of New York Purchase, where she provided vocal coaching and masterclass lectures to international students from diverse upbringings and specializations as the Vocal Performance Teaching Artist for the Cultural Immersion Arts Abroad Program. During her advanced degree studies, she was presented the State University of New York Thayer Fellowship, an exclusive award given to 3 individuals out of an assembly of 500,000 SUNY students who demonstrate outstanding achievement in the arts. She is the first artist to receive the Ella Fitzgerald Scholarship through two professional degrees (B.M., M.M.). She has proudly represented Ella Fitzgerald in various centennial performances (including Blue Note Jazz Club and Jazz at Lincoln Center) with the Purchase Jazz Orchestra under the baton of Dr. Todd Coolman and Jon Faddis.

Maria’s debut solo project (album + art book), Irrefragible Laws, explores acoustic/electronic relationships, field recordings, percussion, extended vocal techniques, and spoken poetry while blending elements of jazz, visual artwork, open improvisation, photography, and contemporary classical music. This project can be found exclusively on Bandcamp.

Curriculum Vitae is available upon request.

QUOTES

“Relentless vulnerability, fearless honesty, technical confidence, and pure expression of the human experience. My friends, this a true artist—right here, right now.” - John Daversa

“It is rare that you hear a singer like Maria Alejandra Quintanilla.  She infuses exploration with beauty and courage, vulnerability, and strength.  Her creativity knows no bounds.  Maria’s collaboration with her partner Renato Diz manifests their unerring desire to find new sounds and stories, and to travel far and beyond.” - Luciana Sousa

“Adventurous, modern, compelling, with an expressive vocal instrument capable of anything […] shows an artist with an open-minded, inviting compositional/improvisational style who’s unafraid to be herself - what a wonderful attribute in a world that tries so hard to make you anything but.” - Peter Eldridge