Maria Zhdanovich began learning to play the flute at the age of 6 in her hometown of Saint Petersburg. After moving to Australia at the age of 8, Maria studied with Alison Rosser, Elizabeth Koch AM, and Julia Grenfell, before commencing her studies with Alison Mitchell at ANAM in 2023.
Maria has won numerous awards and competitions, such as the Adelaide Eisteddfod Concerto Competition, David Cubbin Memorial Prize and 5MBS Young Virtuoso Award. In 2021, she was honored to be a nominee for the Freedman Fellowship while completing her Bachelor of Music Performance (Advanced Degree) at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Some highlights from her time studies include performing the Lukas Foss Flute Concerto with the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and attending classes at Guild Hall, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, and Trinity Laban as part of a study tour to London.
During her time at ANAM, Maria has had the opportunity to develop a broad range of skills as a musician, performer, creator and collaborator. Performances with the Melbourne, Sydney and Western Australian Symphony Orchestras and Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, professional work with Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, as well as learning from the renowned guest conductors of the ANAM orchestra such as Simone Young and Osmo Vänskä, have expanded her faculty as an orchestral player immensely. Her confidence as a solo performer has developed through the 1st and 2nd year ANAM recitals and her semi-finalist placement in the Australian Flute Festival Open Competition, whilst the extensively varied chamber music program at ANAM has given her an opportunity to learn from her peers, esteemed faculty and international guest artists.
Across the last two years, Maria has also enjoyed growing as a creative collaborator. Highlights include Sound of Joy, created in partnership with fellow ANAM peer Georgia White and the Immigration Museum of Melbourne, a concert that celebrated the importance of community spaces that are based in Australian nature; a long form structured improvisation created with Jack Overall and Ronan Apcar entitled Passing Electrical Storms in response to an immersive art work of the same name by Shaun Gladwell, which was performed as part of the exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria and subsequently at Tempo Rubato; and her collaboration with Polyphonic Pictures to create a short film as a companion piece to Night Soliloquy by Kent Kennan.
Maria is also passionate about her role as a teaching artist. She has worked on projects like the Nest: Connecting the Dots in Music and When We Speak workshops, participated in an Artist Development Residency which featured classes led by Eric Booth and Thomas Cabaniss, and whilst at ANAM has enjoyed working on community engagement projects including performances at Richmond West Primary School and Melbourne Recital Centre.
In her third and final year at ANAM in 2025 under Alison Mitchell, Maria hopes to continue weaving together improvisation, contemporary Australian music and beloved classical repertoire to create unique performance experiences, whilst immersing herself in the wealth of knowledge and experience that ANAM has to offer.
FROM: Adelaide, SA. Lands of the Kaurna peoples.
Maria is supported by ANAM Syndicate donors Ruth Ball, Annabelle Lundy Wason, Anonymous.
Photo by Pia Johnson