About Valerie

From beginning piano at seven years old to music directing on Broadway, Valerie Maze has always been putting music and people together. She is a versatile storyteller, using her excellent training and God-given talent to mentor, to lead, to inspire, and to build into others.

As a young person she was drawn to collaborative piano. She accompanied choirs and students in high  school. She sought out teachers and lessons. Valerie Maze practices for hours a day, alone at her  piano, as most professionals do. But she doesn’t seek excellence for its own sake; she seeks excellence  in service of others. Her cast, her pit, her orchestra, her students, her team, all benefit from Valerie’s  skill and her talent, but what sets Valerie apart is her collaborative soul.

“I loved the people part of it.”When she went to college, despite a dream of doing music full-time, she chose a major that seemed  “safe” and found herself in a marketing sales job.  She enjoyed working with clients, but it wasn’t music. Valerie eventually began the arduous process of earning her Master of Music degree in collaborative piano from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1999.

“I hoped to accompany everything and anything: voice studios, opera houses, musical theatre companies. I loved working WITH people.”With her new MM degree, Valerie began opera apprenticeships in Indianapolis and Portland, supporting herself through the lean years with voice lessons, weddings, shows, dance classes, and auditions.

Her first breakthrough job was as Ballet pianist at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She worked her way to the podium at the Lyric, becoming a cover conductor (“Showboat” 2012, “Oklahoma” 2013, “Sound of Music” 2014, “Carousel” 2015, “The King and I” 2016, “My Fair Lady” 2017). Another turning point was music directing at Chicago Shakespeare (“Follies” 2011 and “Gypsy” 2014). For more detail (and lots of it) see her CV here.

For most of her career, Valerie has been a freelancer and has worked all over the world. While she is  now booked months in advance, she has always relied on her faith and her community to get her through the lean or uncertain times and she trusts that she was made for this, no matter how hard it gets.

“Be kind. Always be kind. Professionals love to work with other nice people.”Brick by brick, show by show, Valerie built a solid career as an award-winning music director and  conductor in Chicago and around the country. She has good friends and a deep well of wisdom in her mentors and colleagues, and when the time was right she was offered the chance to tour with “Six: The Musical,” which led to the chair she now holds with “Six” on Broadway.

Valerie hopes to continue music directing, conducting, concert and cabaret work, and mentoring and  coaching. There are so many wonderful people to work with and shows to discover, and Valerie is here to help put it all together.