Mariana Ramirez is a NYC based percussionists. She broke historic ground in 2018 becoming the first female Mexican percussionist to ever perform on a Broadway show while subbing on Once on This Island. It led to hold the percussion chair at the National Broadway Tour of Once on this Island in 2019. Mariana has subbed on two more Broadway shows: Head Over Heels and Ain’t Too Proud, The Life and Times of the Temptations. Off-Broadway shows include subbing Merrily We Roll Along and Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
Mariana currently holds the percussion chair of the hit Broadway Show SIX.
Mariana is a committed advocate for the racial equality, and gender justice. Consequently, she founded the Percussion Quartet Excelsis, The first multinational all-female quartet in the U.S.A. Excelsis was praised as “one of the most innovative and exciting percussion ensembles to emerge in the golden age of chamber music that we are presently in” by Jonathan Hass, head of the New York University Percussion Department. Excelsis has performed twice at NPR Radio in From the Top show, the Percussive Arts Society New York Weekend Of Percussion in 2014 and 2015, Brooklyn Bound with So Percussion, Zeltsman’s Marimba Festival, Tippet Rise Music Festival in Montana, and the Newport Classical Music Festival 2023. Most recently Excelsis was awarded with the highest grant by Chamber Music America in 2024.
In addition to Broadway and Excelsis, she has performed in Europe, Asia, and Mexico playing with Mexican Traditional Music bands, Symphonic Ensembles, Chamber Orchestras and Pop Bands.
Some of her recordings are:
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Platinum Girls, a new musical (Broadway Records)
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Song Of Solomon (Broadway Records.)
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Concerto for Bandoneon and Violin by JP Joffre and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
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Deonté L. Warren, Love, Essential. (Live Recording at 54 below)
As a symphonic percussionist, Mariana has performed with orchestras in Mexico and the United States, including the National Symphony of Mexico, Orquesta de Minería, Dartmouth Symphony, South Florida Symphony, the first all-Women Orchestra of Mexico, New England Ensemble, Fairfield Orchestra, and with The Dessoff Choir, premiering works for Choir and Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall.
As a chamber percussionist she has collaborated with many ensembles such as, The Pit Stop Players, Orquesta de Camara de Nueva York, Many Messiahs, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
Mariana is passionate for independent projects. She won, twice in a row, the FONCA grant given to Mexican Artists. With the first grant in 2018 she developed repertory for Motus Duet, a duet with dance, percussion and electronics, which she took on tour for a month in Mexico giving 14 concerts in 5 different cities. With the second grant in 2019, she is developed new recordings of hip hop and Gregorian chants. This project was premiered in 2020.
Mariana is also passionate about music education: “It is an effective way to share and learn traditions from my Mexican culture and other cultures. Nowadays it’s more important than ever to know and respect other cultures”. As an educator, Mariana was a Teaching Artist at S'cool Sounds founded by Nina Stern, Music Partners by The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, on the Percussion Faculty at The Bronx Conservatory of Music, and the Extension Division at Montclair University.
Mariana has also performed on TV shows including Steven Colbert Late Night Show, and TV series such as Mozart in the Jungle, NBC Universal Upfronts at Radio City Music Hall, among others.
Some of her awards in Mexico include scholarships for solo performers from the National Conservatory of Music, the Metropolitan University, and the National University of Mexico, among many others.
During her studies in Mexico City at the National Conservatory of Music, Mariana won the percussion position at the Youth Orchestra Carlos Chavez.
In the United States during her studies at Mason Gross School of Arts at Rutgers University, she was awarded the Percussive Arts Society Thomas Siwe Scholarship, and The Rutgers University Fellowship for Mexican studies. She was also finalist at the solo competition at Rutgers University in 2013.
Mariana is endorsed by Sabian, Pearl and Innovative Percussion.
