Maestra • For the women and nonbinary people who make the music in the musical theater industry.

Biography

Valerie Maze is a Music Director, Pianist, Vocal Coach, and Educator from Chicago. In the professional world, she has been on the Music Staff at the Lyric Opera of Chicago for 15 years, serving as Dance Pianist for several operas, and Assistant Conductor for productions of My Fair Lady, King and I, Carousel, Sound of Music, Oklahoma! and Showboat. In addition, she most recently was Conductor for Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’s Follies, Drury Lane Theatre’s White Christmas, Goodman Theatre’s Brigadoon, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Gypsy, Follies, The Adventures of Pinnochio, Peter Pan, The Princess and the Pea and The Little Mermaid.

Valerie’s other credits include: Music Director/Conductor at Writers’ Theatre (A Little Night Music, which received a Jeff Award nomination), Apple Tree Theatre (Jon and Jen), Theater at the Center (where she won an “After Dark Award” for her work on Cats), Chicago Muse Theater (where she worked with director Richard Maltby on The Story of My Life); Music Director and Conductor at Peninsula Players, Wagon Wheel Theatre, Provision Theater, Chicago Light Opera Works, Bowen Park Opera, Loyola University; and as a keyboardist with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Marriott Theatre.

In addition, Valerie has served as an Assistant Conductor at various other opera houses: Portland Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Chicago Light Opera Works, Harrisburg Opera, DuPage Opera, daCorneto Opera, and Elgin Opera. In the opera world, recent productions she has been involved in are: Capriccio, Merry Widow, Die Feldermaus, and LaTraviata, to name a few.

In the education realm, she was a Lecturer and Music Director/Conductor in Elon University’s nationally ranked Music Theatre program in North Carolina. She has been on the coaching staff at The Opera Training Institute of Chicago, Music Theatre Instructor at Loyola University, was a coach/collaborative pianist in the Music Theatre department at Northwestern University and DePaul University, and teaches master classes at various universities.

She is also an active recital, cabaret and audition pianist.