ABOUT ME
Working across music, visual art, and fiction, Mari Rosa makes art for people who want to feel—who find kinship in questions that don't resolve, in beauty that doesn't apologize, and richness in a deeply pigmented life.
Mari Rosa makes piano-driven pop for people who want both the ache and the beauty—songs that trust you to sit with complicated feelings without explaining them away. With impressionistic cascades of chords, strong narratives, and a big-hearted sensibility, her work has drawn comparisons to soft rebels like Kate Bush, Björk, and Tori Amos.
When she wrote her first formal song at age 8, Mari Rosa never imagined she'd grow up to perform with Cuban music legend Cachao. She wasn't really even supposed to be alive. A childhood illness nearly ended her life, and music became the quiet, beautiful antidote to those tough, introspective years.
The multilingual daughter of an Italian Argentine father and an American mother, Mari Rosa grew up in Boston—her home filled with the cooing sounds of Spanish, Italian, and Neapolitan, and the warm smells of empanadas and tomato sauces cooked all day long.
She earned a Music and Modern Languages degree in New York, studying with double Grammy nominee Thomas Young, MET Opera session singer Hilda Harris (Luther Vandross, Nina Simone, Quincy Jones, Blondie), and Argentine poet laureate María Negroni. She studied classical piano with Martin Goldray (Philip Glass) and jazz with Don Friedman (Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker, Eric Dolphy), legendary pedagogue Charlie Banacos, and Berklee professor emeritus Charlie Sorrento.
IN HER OWN WORDS
01 Singer Songwriter
“Come dream with me. I’m a music lover first. I’m in it for the goosebumps. It’s about getting inside the song and distilling what is true and human at bedrock. I’m lucky to do that in my indie-pop work, and through my deep roots in Latin jazz and jazz. I’m struck by what stays remarkably the same across genres and cultures. My music dives heart-first into life, through love, loss, survival, and the small moments that hold us together—always with hope, and often with a damn good sense of humor.”
- Mari Rosa
02 Visual Artist
Watercolor florals, ephemeral redheads, hand-drawn animation
“I began painting flowers during lockdown in France. The work is meticulous and luminous—petals as close as portraits—made to reward the kind of attention we rarely give ourselves permission to inhabit.
In 2024, I created my Redhead series, an exploration of negative space, & the wild unconventional beauty of my fellow genetic freaks. (I love you. No shade. Yes, sunblock.)
I also created a hand-drawn animation. My 6,500-frame music video “Conspiracy Theory” screened internationally as an official selection at multiple animation festivals.”
03 Writer
“I’ve written poetry since I was a kid. It’s part of what some of you might be clocking & it’s what I’m here to share: creativity distills meaning. It deepens our relationship with being alive.
I’m currently seeking publication for various poems so I share selectively here. I’m also working on my first novel: a sci-fi adventure about a young NYC playwright who takes a job as a psychic to pay the bills—and accidentally awakens a family secret with dire consequences.”
WORK WITH ME
Interested in hiring Mari for music, topline writing, artistic direction, or other creative collaboration?
Send a message with what you’re making and what you need—she’ll reply with next steps.
Full Bio continued…
Mari Rosa has performed on stages across the United States and Europe at The Bitter End, the 92nd Street Y, Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), Ronnie Scott's (London), Zinc Bar, Rockwood Music Hall, and many more. She has opened for Will Daly and Federico Aubele. Her awards for singing and writing cross languages and genres (Latin Jazz, Jazz, Indie pop, and holiday music) with atypical fluency. In 2022, she hand-drew a 6,500 frame animated music video for her original song, “Conspiracy Theory.” The song tells the story of a heart-poundingly awkward blind date, and earned official selections at Munich Music Video Awards, Rome Music Video Awards, and International Sound Future Awards (2023).
Mari Rosa has recorded/performed with Latin Grammy winner Fernando Otero, Kermit Driscoll (Bill Frisell), 7x Emmy winning composer José Cancela, Kaitlin McGaw of the Grammy winning Alphabet Rockers and many others. Her albums include Honeyspot (2012), Bicycle Wheel (2019, mastered by Grammy winner Ducky Carlisle), Música Aquí (2020, Far Out Recordings, as Limoncello), Pink Sand (2020), and the forthcoming Anima (2026, Clap Erasers Records).
In addition to being a musician, in 2018, Mari Rosa began working as a visual artist creating highly detailed floral art. Designed to make you feel you are seeing petals through warm summer light, the series aims to invite a state of presence, and a love of stewardship. In 2024, she began her Redhead series, an exploration of negative space and the wild, polarizing beauty of redheads. Her work has sold to private buyers worldwide.
A lifelong poet and writer, Mari is currently working on her first novel—a contemporary fantasy about a struggling NYC playwright who takes a job as a psychic, only to come face to face with family legacy, power, and the devastating threat of long buried secrets.
Working across music, visual art, and fiction, Mari Rosa makes work for people who want to feel everything—who find kinship in questions that don't resolve neatly, in beauty that doesn't apologize, and richness in a deeply pigmented life.
