How do you solve a problem? - Like Maria! [AngloCelt, May 2009]

Photo: Copyright AngloCelt.
Story: By Sinead Horgan, Anglo Celt, 27/May/2009.

How do you solve a problem? - Like Maria!

Whether it comes from the heart, the soul or somewhere even more mystical than that, Maria Greenan’s piano-playing and singing is positively goose-bump inducing. The 20-year-old music student from Cootehill wowed the crowds at Cavan’s Got Talent with performances of songs ranging from Hot Stuff to Tears From Heaven and Billie Jean - scooping the first prize of €7,000 which she plans to put towards her education.

"It's a bit of a cliche that if someone can’t see well, they do music,” says Maria, who was born with glaucoma. "But my visual impairment was a big reason why my parents put me into music. They put us into everything, like Irish dancing as well. They were quite eager for me to be doing a lot of things. The thing, I suppose, with music is that it doesn’t matter whether you can see everything or nothing, because music is still music at the end of the day.”

Happily acknowledging that they were "big-time” proactive with her and her siblings, who include Irish dancing champions, James and Sinead Greenan, Maria isn’t keen to over-state the issue. "I don’t think it was thought about that deeply at the time, but looking back, that’s the way I’d see it.”

Nonetheless, with a maturity that belies her youth and possibly stems from the adversity she has so admirably overcome, the third year student in DIT’s School of Music, Dublin, is realistic and philosophical about the up and down-sides of having the impairment.

"It’s a big thing. It is tough,” she states. "There are a lot of things that, physically, you just can’t do, so you have to find your own way. That’s frustrating because you’re on your own figuring out stuff. That’s the tough part – it’s a little bit lonely in that way, but once you figure it out, it’s easy; it’s just a matter of adapting things, so you can do it.”

Agreeing that everyone has their own issues and we’re all trying to muddle through life in our own way, Maria doesn’t set herself apart from anyone else. "There’s always going to be something, but you just get on with it. With some people, it’s just more obvious,” she says. Reading sheets of music can pose a challenge, but her hearing is all the more sensitive for where her sight might sometimes fall short.

"It has totally benefited me as far as my ear goes. I’d probably have a much older ear than someone of my age typically would. For college it can be quite tough at times because the music I’m learning can be so difficult. It’s a classical course and some of those pieces are 15 or 20 minutes long. It’s not like I can just sit down and read them like my peers can. It takes me a bit longer, because I have to learn everything from memory, which can be tough with recitals and competitions.”

Raw talent

As well as having a self-evident raw talent for music, Maria is fiercely independent and optimistic, ensuring that even the remotest possibility of her eye condition provoking sympathy simply doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell. Whether it’s in Cootehill, England where she spent her early childhood, or in Dublin where she’s now studying, proving herself and her independence has been a big motivator for Maria.

"I think my parents would tell you I’ve always been the same. Even when I was younger I used to hate people helping me, assuming I couldn’t do something or worrying about me doing something. That’s what really annoyed me and, probably, what’s pushed me.”

Through teaching music to her students in Cootehill at weekends and playing regular gigs in venues such as the upmarket Unicorn Restaurant in leafy Dublin 2 and the Angler’s Rest Pub in Strawberry Beds, Maria has even paid her own rent in Dublin since she was 17.

She is hugely ambitious in her future plans too. In the short term, she hopes to continue her studies with a Masters in Music Therapy in London after completing her primary degree, for which she has one more year.

Music Therapy for Autism, Special Needs

A devoted teacher of music and piano, Maria is completely passionate about the idea of using music as a therapy for children with autism, for example, or adults with Alzheimer’s. She speaks about a little girl in her own little world: "She was telling a little story and the music therapist was on the piano telling the story with the music. It helps the kid to concentrate and calm down,” says Maria.

"I think a lot of kids, especially with special needs, get pushed aside when it comes to music. Probably a lot of kids are really musical and you’d never know. I don’t have any close connection with autism or know an awful lot about it, but I think there’s not enough around for them. It’s about expressing themselves through music and guiding them in the right way. It’s amazing.”

In the longer term, her ambitions include owning her own music school and playing to "really big audiences”.

Talent

And those who’ve heard Maria perform will surely agree that her talent deserves to be aired in the world’s top venues. Maria plays and sings with precision and clarity. Even to the untrained ear her diction and timing are evidently note-perfect, as she leaves a teasing second or fraction of a second between notes with brilliant confidence. Maria also has a gift for making any piece of music her own, mixing trad’ with jazz and rock, and giving it a unique twist with her classical piano background.

"It means I can be more adventurous with doing my own arrangements instead of copying someone else’s which I don’t want to do. I try to think outside the box. Sometimes you stay in one place for a little while and that gets boring for other people and for yourself. I’d say I’m probably going to change another million times. I’m always going to find new things,” she promises.

We don’t doubt it for a minute, Maria!