biography
Mia Makaroff (b.1970) is a composer, arranger, music teacher and a choir conductor. In 2003, she graduated from the Sibelius Academy as a Master of Music in Music Education studies. Her thesis was about creating a music teaching pedagogy using the therapeutical sides of music especially aimed at preventing youth drug addiction.
Mia Makaroff's work includes teaching music to school children and young people, composing, creating and conducting different music projects. Song-writing projects for young people are a speciality of hers: altogether six school musicals have been written and performed by her pupils. Finnish folklore and poetry are great sources of inspiration in her composing work.
Many well-known song groups and choirs have brought Mia Makaroff’s music to a wider audience, such as Rajaton, King's Singers, Amarcord and others. In 2006 she was asked to participate in an international Song Bridge-choir project as a composer. She has been teaching in mastercourses about composing for children's choirs, in Neerpelt Belgium 2008, Aosta Italy 2010 and St Petersburg Russia 2014-2019. Se has also worked as a juror and a lecturer in choir competitions and festivals, for example in The Interkultur World Choral Games in Cincinnati 2012. Theatre music is one big interest of hers: 2012 was the premier of her first musical for children and adults called Kruunulapset, “Crown Children”.Now she is working to build a national network of non-auditioned and inclusive children and youth choir under the name of MunKuoro (munkuoro.fi) or MinKör (minkör.fi)