Maria Kizirian

  • Maria was awarded "Performer of the year 2012" by the Finlandia Foundation!!!
  • Maria releases "Everything's OK" - her entry to Finland's Eurovision 2012 competition (and explains how these song competitions work) - at The Network Community!
  • Maria is the music expert for The Network - the world's largest modeling agency! Check out her first blog!
  • Maria was talked about in Finland's Metropoli Magazine!
  • Maria performed several shows at FinnFest in San Diego. Stay tuned for pics and videos!
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Music

"On and On"

"Mr. X"
"Finlandia"
"Little Red Riding Hood" (website):

Maria's blogs

Maria Kizirian's Official Blog ... image loading

The Network Talent Agency
Maria Kizirian, blog screenshot for The Network Talent agency 		"The American Life" (in Finnish)
Maria's Finnish blog: The American Life 		MySpace blog
 
Maria's MySpace Blog


Biography

Maria Kizirian is different. She is a product of God-given talent and very cold weather. Born in Finland’s Arctic Lapland, and partially raised in middle-America by a rock n’ roll guitarist – music represents a driving force in her life from as far back as she can remember.

Maria serves as the “music expert” for the world’s largest modeling talent agency, The Network, based in Hollywood, CA. Her plans with The Network include developing some of their musically talented models. This Agency is currently filming a nationally broadcast TV show called “Remodeled” on The CW Network in January 2012. The Network was the first foreign agency to write about the rise of the former Miss Finland 2011, Pia Pakarinen.

First, by being one of the first people EVER to make an HD music video, she had her song “Mr. X” showcasing on Chinese HD DVD players to help sell the new format (2004).

Maria was invited to perform at the Armenian Eurovision Finals in 2010. Her husband, Paul is of Armenian descent, and their family has worked with Armenian orphanages and schools for years. Entering the competition, Maria was also able to raise some awareness of the family’s work in Armenia, while also raising her own profile with Eurovision.

Maria has also been invited by “Bollywood” executives to work with them in India. She would love the opportunity, if only India were a little better with their copyright laws!

While based in LA, Maria’s songs are supported by Radio DJs and show producers across the USA and are played on over 100 different stations. She also performs live at select venues.

Going back in time, Maria didn’t always know that she could sing or write good songs. Her musical journey started off with playing the violin at the age of four. She took lessons and performed at recitals and advanced to playing in her hometown Symphony.

Reflecting on her early career: “I think that my parents had high hopes and aspirations for me and violin” she laughs. "However, on the side I remember making up cute songs about my siblings, and that was my entry into songwriting without even realizing it.”

Despite her love of music and classical training, Maria had no idea that she could really sing until she took part in a singing competition held at her Middle School in Espoo, Finland. She was just as shocked as everyone else that she had a strong voice. As it turned out, she won that competition and that encouraged Maria to start entertaining dreams of pursuing life as a singer. The poor violin began playing second fiddle as Maria started to record demos and meet with record company executives throughout her teen years. She was courted by BMG to join a Pop girl group but it wasn’t until after graduating High School that she signed a deal with EMI Music Finland.

During the making of her debut album ‘Olipa Kerran’ Maria met and got married to her American husband! They lived in Finland for the release of her singles and album. Maria eventually returned to reconnect with her musical roots and took on a huge risk doing so - going independent.

While in the US, she collaborated with her rocker dad (Jake Voutilainen) and released an independent album called 'On The Rocks.' The songs from this record hit a chord with American audiences and helped Maria grow her substantial fanbase. She invested heavily in improving her skills by working with a handful of mentors – each a hit songwriter and producer – and so it goes that Maria is now writing and producing her own songs and innovating new styles of Pop ... and as a lucky charm, she started re-introducing the rich textures of the violin into her modern Pop recordings by converting her 212-year-old violin to play electric!

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