Maria Majno

Maria Majno is a musician and cultural manager, a graduate of Milan’s Conservatoire and its State University (1985, thesis on “Diderot and Music”).

As artistic and executive director of the Società del Quartetto di Milano, she created thematic seasons and led a ten-year project performing all of Bach’s sacred and secular Cantatas, earning the 2000 “Abbiati” award; she remains vice-president and artistic supervisor. Since 2006 she has chaired the European Mozart Ways, the Council of Europe’s first Cultural Itinerary for a musician.

In 2011, at Claudio Abbado’s request, she founded SONG – Sistema in Lombardia, Italy’s Sistema-inspired program modeled on José Antonio Abreu’s work, helping establish El Sistema internationally as a model of social inclusion. She is also vice president of Sistema Europe, whose SEYO encounters include a 2015 Milan EXPO edition with El Sistema Venezuela’s La Scala residency.

She co-founded the SIMM platform, sits on the Démos Advisory Board at the Philharmonie de Paris, co-chaired the CEM Scientific Committee, and serves on the boards of Marlboro Music, the Borletti Buitoni Trust, and Fondation Musique Cerveau et Société. As vice president of the Mariani Foundation for Paediatric Neurology, she leads its “Neuromusic” conferences. She teaches at Università Cattolica, Milan and is often invited to share her work on the impact of music, arts and culture on education, health and well being.