Maria Priadako, Music Director
Story of My Life, Inspired by Music
It all started when I was 7, in Ukraine, in my native Beautiful 1500 year old city of Kyiv, where I was born. Somehow I always knew I really wanted to play piano, since I remembered myself and my mom, who was a scientist and a really busy woman, asked my aunt to bring me to music school for entrance exams, which I failed with flying colors. In spite of all the negative opinions of the other teachers in admission’s committee, one of them said, looking at me and seeing that I was really upset by the outcome of my test, where I did not demonstrate any skills or talents, required to enter music school’s 1st grade, even though I had a real passion to learn how to play piano: “I will try to work with this girl for one year, will accept her into a “Zero Grade” in my class and we will give her another test next year to see, if she will improve and qualify to enter 1st grade then”.
At the end of a “Zero Grade”, where I was first accepted due to my first teacher’s efforts and her having Hope I would improve after she would work with me for one year, miracle happened. I started to show some progress and after the test, I was finally accepted into 1st grade in spite of bad forecasts of other teachers a year before.
Little by little I developed more and more music skills and by the end of music school I had a perfect pitch, graduated with Honors and even managed to win 2nd prize in one of the piano competitions among all the students of my age group in the music school I attended.
I loved everything about my music school, where I studied for 8 years 5 days a week since I was 7, but most of all I really adored my piano teacher, who inspired me at every lesson by her unforgettable stories, singing, dancing in the classroom and showing me amazing things I tried to learn from her to become proficient in piano.
After Music School graduation I wanted to persue a career in music and teaching, so my piano teacher, from music school, who I consider my second Mother, that is how close in spirit she was to me, encouraged me to enter Kyiv’s Hrinchenko Pedagogical College, majoring in Music and Education and after completing it in four years and receiving my Diploma in Music and Education, I entered Kyiv’s Dragomanov National Pedagogical University, as well as Kyiv’s National Linguistics University and completed them with BA in Music and Education and BA in English and Literature.
After I came to US in 1995, I was working as a music teacher in various schools part time and taught piano privately for many years and loved it! Even though my main career was not connected to music, as I spent 13 years working full time in banking, I always carried the desire to continue working in music field, particularly with my favourite instrument – piano. In 2021 someone offered me a substitute pianist/organist position in one of the local churches. That was the best thing I had ever did in my whole life. I’ve been playing piano and organ in various churches since then. It’s been already four years and I am still wondering till this day, why I had never tried doing it before.
To summarize my little story I want to cite the words of the famous pianist Martha Argerich “Life without music would be a mistake!”
Maria Priadko,
Musician, Pianist, Organist, Teacher, Music Lover, Dreamer
Choir
The Choir includes Barbara Caldwell and Edward Hindman. If you are interested in joining our choir program please email stjohnsellenville@gmail.com
