Maria Antifonario brings over twenty years of experience in fundraising for arts and culture to the Boston Children's Chorus, most recently at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Boston Symphony Orchestra. As the granddaughter of a professional jazz guitarist who was a proud member of the Local 802 American Federation of Musicians in New York, and daughter of a Lowell, Massachusetts church musician, Maria grew up with a strong sense of the power of music to create beauty, opportunity, and multi-generational community. A pianist and flute player all through her school years, her first act of music advocacy was ringing a doorbell in her small hometown in northern Massachusetts to solicit a donation for the marching band; her second was reading a testimonial at town meeting when the School Committee threatened to defund the town's music program during a budget crisis. That moment lit a fire for ensuring equity in arts funding that has stayed with her ever since!

Maria holds a B.A. in English from Harvard, where she was a member of the Radcliffe Choral Society and had the opportunity to write a thesis on the intersection of jazz forms and literature. A longtime resident of Inman Square, Cambridge, her perfect weekend includes attending local music performances in as many different genres as possible, a walk with her tuxedo cat Charlie, and sharing a lively game of bocce or some good food with her two teenagers, family, and friends.