Join Maria LIVE on YouTube from August 13 – 19, 2022 @ 1 pm EST as she discusses the 7 essential elements that will make your performances extraordinary! This free series will feature a talk each day followed by a premiere from Maria’s recent Celtic/Classical show – Music from the Emerald Isles – with the Victoria Symphony conducted by Sean O’Loughlin.
Category Archives: News
Adventures in Music + Film
We spent MANY hours in a forest – not a person in sight – taking turns filming, playing (and swatting mosquitoes) to bring you our latest creation. Canada Council for the Arts’ Digital Originals grant – an initiative spurred by the pandemic to help artists, arts groups, and organizations pivot their work for online sharing – enabled us to purchase the equipment we used to film this (and also livestream). We are so grateful.
Watch Sonic Escape Perform for the Flute Center of New York
We had so much fun putting this performance together for you to enjoy! Dozens of livestreams (and our awesome YouTube audience!) have powered us to capture the best sound + video possible in a single, unedited take. This is the culmination of that hard work! We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Click on pic to watch video:
Check Out Maria & Shawn’s New YouTube Series
We are delighted to present FEARLESS COVERS, a new livestreamed series in which we improvise with today’s hits.
This is our live show
We performed for a couple-thousand audience members at the Florida Music Education Association’s Annual Conference and, as luck would have it, we found a camera crew willing to fly down the aisles alongside us! We are so grateful to them for capturing our show… and to FMEA and Canada Council for the Arts for making this performance and video possible.
Concerts cancelled… so we come to you from our home!
Our March through May concerts have been cancelled, so we wanted to bring some good cheer to you – virtually – in these shared and dark times. We loved performing for the Crescent City Chamber Music Festival in New Orleans last October – today, we join forces once again to bring you this live-streamed performance (our first)!
Maria’s Violin Solos..
Check out Maria’s virtuosic rendition of tango La Cumparsita, now available in Sonic Escape‘s sheet music store! Also available for purchase is Sakura, which was recently published in a first-run printing of 12,400 copies for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and is currently sold in 90+ countries. Maria is the only living composer featured in the publication!
Telling a story with instruments…
Humanity is Maria’s response to hearing the cries of children separated from their parents at the US-Mexico border. She chose the violin & flute to tell the story of a mother and her young son – of hope for a shared future that compels them to run, desperately trying to keep a hold of each other in the face of a world that pulls them apart. Thank you to the Ontario Arts Council for making this composition possible.
Where we’ve been, where we’re going
Since 2009, Sonic Escape has crisscrossed North America again and again – want to see where? Check out our interactive map of past and upcoming tours.
Ableton Live in Action!
Making the switch from bulky pedals to Macbook Pro + Ableton Live was a challenge… and Power was the perfect piece to debut our new setup! Being able to record, loop, stop and reintroduce lines in real time has never been so fun. Thank you to the New York State School Music Association for featuring us at their Annual Conference.
Sonic Escape’s Guide to Performing on YouTube
We are thrilled at long last to bring you our Guide to Performing – an in-depth romp through all things performance-related. Tips, hacks and stories from the road that might just provide a nugget or two for aspiring musicians. New episodes every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Sonic Escape’s music travels the world
We LOVE hearing from people who play our compositions! Since we started offering our sheet music a couple of years ago, we’ve sold hundreds of copies in 30+ countries – Azerbaijan to Malta, South Africa to Japan. Check out our store to see if there’s a piece for you!
Awesome live photos
We have discovered the perfect live music photographer – Ashlee Wilcox! She must’ve been as sweaty as we were, contorting to capture shots from every angle of our show for the National Association for Music Education. Click the photo for our favorite picks.
Maria’s “Fall” from “Four Seasons Rising”
Maria just completed her first orchestral work, and hit the recording studio so she could share it with you:
Our first music video!!!
Of course, the day we decided to shoot our video, it rained! We took it in stride, though, and even wrested a few dry minutes from the weather gods to whip out the drone! Frizzy hair, muddy feet, rain-infested instruments… it’s all featured in our collaboration with cinematographer Umit Gulsen. Without further ado, we proudly present:
Why We Perform
Our Corpus Christi audience’s energy made us giddy with excitement – they have set the bar HIGH for Texas. What a lovely introduction to this state… and this was just mid-concert!
I Don’t Practise (and Neither Should You)!
We often get asked, “How often do you practise,” to which Maria answers, “I don’t.” In Maria’s new entry for her series, Play Harder, she explains why…
Bringing Music to Life
The Montgomery Advertiser just published a front-page feature about our concerts and residency in Montgomery, AL. Click here to read the article, Bringing Music to Life.
Sonic Escape in Pictures
See Sonic Escape play their way across North America in candid shots of their concerts, outreach, flash shows, tour van and of course, cats! Check out their Flickr photostream for a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road…
Play Harder Series: Saving the Environment with Music (Entry 6)
Staying passionate about climate change is an uphill battle. Show me an image of starving children, animal abuse or yet another shooting and my heart jolts: “This must be stopped,” my brain (or voice) yells as I see red. But climate change? It’s the reverse – a brain-to-heart process of reminding myself, “Yes, this is what I should get fired up about, this is the biggest threat facing mankind!”
Play Harder Series: Help Me, I’m an Artist (Entry 5)
I have always made my living as an independent performing artist. A 9-to-5 job is as foreign to me as waking up early, establishing a routine or even teaching a student regularly. We artists share one thing in common – we need help! Funding, booking, housing, brainstorming, bartering, watching, listening, feedback, encouragement… our success depends upon asking and receiving.
Wonderful Feature Story about Sonic Escape
The expert pen of Jeremy D. Bonfiglio proves that the art of storytelling is alive and well! Check out this beautifully written piece about Maria and Shawn’s fateful trip to Ireland, and the music and relationship that ensued: Classical, Irish traditions merge in Sonic Escape.
Tickets for NYC Show Now On Sale!
It’s been a LONG time since we’ve performed a show in Manhattan, so we’re excited to be doing so in association with The Delancey and our favorite, 9000-member strong New York Vegetarian & Vegan Meetup Group! Read more and buy your tickets here!
New Videos from Celtic with a Twist
We’re happy to introduce our new concert program, Celtic with a Twist. We’ve put together a series of videos, with background stories, highlighting works from the show. Thank you to the S&R Foundation for the gift of filming at the stunning Evermay Estate in Washington, DC.
Continue reading
Thank you, Canada Council for the Arts!
We’re delighted to announce that Maria was awarded a grant from Canada Council for the Arts to create Four Seasons Rising! So excited!
Bach in Ireland!
With 3 cameras on hand, Terry Currie did a beautiful job of capturing our performance of Bach in Ireland. Thanks to a long flight from NYC to San Francisco and the availability of an electrical outlet (go Delta!)…
…Maria had a moment to edit together the shots and produce this video that we’re very excited to share with you:
Everything you need to know about Sonic Escape in 2 minutes!
Maria put together this video to explain what we’re all about. Please enjoy!
Beautiful Live Shots from Curiosity Concerts
Antoine Bancharel captured Sonic Escape‘s season-opening performance for Curiosity Concerts in Greenwich, CT. Check out his stunning photos here!
Front-Page Feature in the Washington Daily News
Today’s Washington Daily News features Sonic Escape’s interview with Vail Stewart Rumley about their upcoming residency in North Carolina. The 2 mainstage concerts, 11 outreach shows/public workshops and morning news show appearance run from October 3 – 9. Check it out – SONIC BLAST: Musicians meld cultures in MainStage concert
New Season, New Videos!
After a magical summer away (more about that soon) WE ARE BACK! We’re putting together some videos from our performances and adventures… here’s the first. The theme from one of Maria’s favorite childhood movies – Tonari no Totoro – with a twist at the end!
2014/15 Season Coming Soon
We’re really looking forward to our line up of concerts, workshops and residencies starting in September 2014 – we’ll be touring the South for the first time in addition to returning to the West Coast, Rockies, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, East Coast and (way) up North! Keep an eye on our calendar as we’ll be posting dates over the next few weeks…
Front Page Feature in the Telegraph Herald
The Telegraph Herald caught wind of Shawn and Maria’s 20-concert, tri-state residency hosted by the Dubuque Arts Council and featured it on their front page! Read the full story or check out their video with interview & performance clips. (Article & video by Mary Nevans-Pederson / photos by Jessica Reilly)
Great review in the Washington Post!
“Wonderfully imaginative,” “smile-inducing,” “impressive” and “designed to entertain” – just some of what Stephen Brookes of The Washington Post had to say about Sonic Escape’s performance & original works! Click the logo for the full review.
Smiling in Sarnia
Our streak of playing for AWESOME Ontario audiences continues! We’ve now performed in Toronto, Ottawa, Clarendon, Ingersoll, Elora, Sioux Lookout, Kenora and, just last night, Sarnia. Thanks to the Sarnia Concert Association for reminding us we’ve gotta move here! Click the pic for a full-size view.
Interview with the Sarnia Observer
Paul Morden of the Sarnia Observer recently interviewed Shawn about Sonic Escape’s love affair with all things Ontario. Keep an eye out for the premiere of our vocal/instrumental rendition of The Log Driver’s Waltz – a Canadian folk favourite – this coming Wednesday at the Imperial Theatre in Sarnia!
Our view of the concert
A mid-concert photo op with the wonderful audience in Mathews, VA! Thank you to Concerts by the Bay and sound engineer, George, for a delightful afternoon. It’s always a pleasure to perform when the sound and company are great! Click the pic for a full-size view.
Debut of the Skiing Flutist
We’ve experienced a lot of winter storms on the East Coast of late and, rather than grumble about it, decided to pack our skis, flute & camera and head to Vermont! A few tips:
- Downhill speed ≠ getting a sound
- Stick to the top octave (preferably with one hand to get in some dance moves)
- Below freezing temperatures might get you stuck to your flute
- Stop playing and throw the flute if you’re going to crash!
Hope you enjoy the video 🙂
Welcome to sonicescapemusic.com 2.0!
After a happy whirlwind month on the road, we got to enjoy some downtime and design our new site! Now all those photos, videos and recordings from our travels & concerts have a home!! We look forward to sharing our world with you… thanks for stopping by.