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Maria Staump was born on March 11, 1986 in Huntington, England. Her mother is a native of Sweden, and came to the Untied States as a young adult. Her father is an American from California and serves in the United States Air Force. Maria is the youngest of four, having two older sisters and one older brother, and has lived in California since she was two years old.

Maria began learning about music at the young age of four, having received instruction on the piano from various local teachers. At age ten, Maria was fortunate enough to transfer into a fine arts program, known as FAME, for her remaining years of elementary school. As part of the FAME program, she was required to audition regularly, conduct presentations for the class every month, and learn various techniques within the visual and performing arts. Maria had the chance to perform in several musicals including,"Crazy For You," "Hello Dolly," and "Lil' Abner", all of which required acting, singing, and varying dance styles. FAME also took fine arts students on mini tours to different schools in the district, in order to perform for fellow students, introducing them to the arts. In addition to Maria's experiences with the visual and performing arts, she was also required to learn an appropriate concert band instrument while in the fine arts program. Since piano was not considered a band instrument, she began to learn saxophone, under the instruction of Robert Bush.

As extra curricular activities, Maria spent time taking dance instruction, maintaining her piano instruction, and also became part of an all girls vocal performing group known as,"Half Steps." Under the direction of Jackie Abernathy, "Half Steps," included learning specific choreography, and memorizing many songs. "Half Steps," would perform at local hospitals and malls, as well as at theme parks such as Disneyland.

In junior high Maria joined the concert band under the direction of Joan Kloor, quickly learning the trumpet, and how to play percussion in the school's drum line. As part of the school's music program, Maria performed with the band both on saxophone and trumpet. She also joined the school's choir program, and was able to perform in various competitions. Maria also served as the drum major for her school during her eighth grade marching season where she marched at the head of the Mother Goose Parade, and conducted a performance at Knott's Berry Farm. At the end of her years in junior high, Maria had the opportunity to join a drum corps, and play mellophone. Drum corps consisted of strenuous marching drill, a need for advanced chops on your instrument, and the chance to tour throughout California, performing and competing against other drum corps.

When Maria reached high school, she continued her musical education by joining the school's band. While part of the concert band, Maria played trumpet, trombone, and percussion. She marched in several parades and participated in various competitions. During this time, Maria also joined the San Diego Youth Symphony under the direction of Jeff Edmons. Maria's primary instrument was violin, but she also played viola. The San Diego Youth Symphony performed many times at the Downtown San Diego's Copley Symphony Hall, as well as performing at various charity events. The symphony welcomed several celebrity guest appearances including one by Tom
Arnold. Her membership in the symphony lasted for several years.

During Maria's sophomore year of high school, she was the victim of a severe car accident. The injuries from the accident prevented her from playing several of her instruments due to the pain it caused when she would try to play. Because Maria craved the presence of music in her life, she joined the high school choir. Although she was able to sing and perform with the choir, she felt a void from not being able to play the instruments she loved. Her frustration would soon become smaller when she attended an after school concert. Without her knowledge, her mom had entered Maria's name into a raffle. After the first name was called for someone who decided to leave the concert early, they called for Maria's ticket. Next thing she knew, she was holding a Big Baby Taylor Guitar that the school had just raffled off! Although Maria had never intended to learn guitar, she soon found that not only could she play this instrument with less pain involved, but she also developed a stronger love of this instrument then for any other she had ever played before. It must have been meant to be!
After graduating high school, Maria began her education at Grossmont College in San Diego. She enrolled in several music classes, declared herself a music major, and proclaimed her primary instrument to be the guitar. Maria was fortunate enough to study privately with Fred Benedetti, and George Svoboda. During her attendance at Grossmont, Maria began to write her own music, and soon discovered her definite calling as a musician. She fell quickly in love with composition, and has never stopped writing since.

The motivation behind Maria's music comes from her love for life. From almost dying in that accident she was shoved into realizing how beautiful life truly is. To be alive is the greatest gift anyone could ever have. Maria tried to find blessings in every experience, whether that experience be positive or negative. From the negative we can become stronger, and from the positive we are encouraged to keep going. Being able to see the beauty in all situations has filled Maria with a sense of peace, and a knowledge that she can make it through whatever life brings. Maria wants her music to help others recognize the beauty that surrounds every day, and that there is light in all experiences. Writing music became a huge part of her life when she realized that this passion and positive energy she felt could not be magnified to its' true depth without a melody to express it. She believes that everyone needs a melody to sometimes accurately portray what they feel inside, and hopes that her music gives all people that chance to express themselves more fully. Life is the journey to becoming a better person, and her path is music.

Maria's first album "Mi Vida Bonita," or, "My Beautiful Life," was released on February 14th, 2008. This album was inspired by the experiences she has had in life, and is completely instrumental, featuring guitar and piano . All instrumentation was written and performed by Maria, and the entire album was recorded independently in her and her husband Drummer Tim Staump's home studio.

Maria and her husband Tim have also put together a band known as "The Maria Staump Band". The Maria Staump Band is a newly developed group that started working together in late April of 2008. The band consists of Maria Staump on vocals and rhythm guitar, her husband Tim Staump on drums, Dan Scott on bass, and Joel Tuttle on lead guitar. Each musician maintains individual projects, but has also come together to form the Maria Staump Band. All the music performed by the band was written by Maria, but each member adds their own style and originality to her music to give songs their own unique sound. The music that is created by the Maria Staump Band is a blend of different styles: rock, blues, Latin, punk, country, hip hop, folk, and alternative. The band's music is uplifting, humorous, honest, optimistic, and discusses real life emotions and experiences. Their first performance together was on June 18th, 2008 at the San Diego County Fair. Since then they have also performed at the 2nd annual Rock the GasLamp show, in Downtown San Diego, hosted by Staump.com. The Maria Staump Band is also currently working towards recording their first album together for the future. To see upcoming shows that the Maria Staump Band will be performing at please visit www.staump.com/shows.

In addition to composing and performing, Maria also teaches full time. She currently has over thirty students each week that range in age from three to sixty years old. She primarily teaches piano and guitar, however, she does offer bass,trumpet, and violin lessons as well. She is proudly self employed as an independent musician.

Maria currently has a degree in music, is an ASCAP member, and is a member of the National Association for Music Education.

As Maria's final words she states," Stop wasting time and live your dreams! Living everyday doing what you love is possible with hard work, unwavering faith, and a good grasp of reality. =) Good luck to all in every endeavor throughout life!!"

God Bless,
Maria